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Opinion & Analysis

Sergio being Sergio? Not this time

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Before Sergio Garcia’s racially insensitive remarks at the European Tour awards dinner Tuesday night, the golfer had already made a series of imprudent decisions.

He made comments about Tiger Woods pulling a club during his backswing, causing a commotion, which led to an errant shot at The Players Championship. The notoriously malcontent golfer then suggested that Woods had done it on purpose and indicated that he didn’t particularly care for the world’s No. 1-ranked player.

Never one to let sleeping dogs lie or bite his own wagging tongue, Garcia, in a press conference earlier this week, suggested that Woods is a liar, generally impugned his character, and reiterated that the golfer is unlikely to be receiving a Christmas card from the Garcia family.

What began as a difference of opinion or perspective between two of the game’s best has turned into a mess worse than Garcia’s play at the 17th hole at Sawgrass nearly two weeks ago.

If there was an award at Tuesday night’s gala for the “Most Racist Remark since Fuzzy Zoeller at the 1997 Masters” or “Lifetime Achievement in Putting One’s Foot in One’s Mouth,” the Spaniard would likely have been a finalist.

Before we deal with Sergio’s Stupid Comments, Part XXIV, it’s worth noting that I enjoy when the world’s top professional golfers, who are generally reserved when they’re on the record, speak their minds. But his actions over the last two weeks display a real lack of both insight and foresight, which, unfortunately, speaks volumes about his inability to capitalize on the tremendous potential he first showed nearly 15 years ago.

On to the remarks at the center of the present controversy. In response to a question about whether he’ll be interacting with Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open next month, Sergio said,

“We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

In introducing the quote, I nearly said, “On to the meat of our discussion,” but that seemed insensitive in light of the comment at hand. I don’t consider myself a great intellect or an exemplary human being; however, I refrained from the previous statement given my judgement that it could potentially offend or be considered in poor taste, which is exactly what Sergio didn’t do.

Think before you speak, about your audience, the context of your comments and the implications of what you’re saying. It’s not a radical proposition, nor is it a difficult habit to practice; however, it’s a bit of advice that’s essential in any remotely civil society.

Garcia knew the words shouldn’t have left his lips just as they were reaching the ears of the eager press corps, but just like when he spit in the cup at Doral in 2007, he just couldn’t help himself. Certainly, he’s apologized and said the right words since. Unfortunately, apologies rarely redeem a public figure in the court of public opinion.

As a result, he is in hot water — even with his current equipment/clothing sponsor, TaylorMade-adidas golf, who released this statement about Garcia:

Sergio Garcia’s recent comment was offensive and in no way aligns with TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s values and corporate culture. We have spoken with Sergio directly and he clearly has regret for his statement and we believe he is sincere. We discussed with Sergio that his comments are clearly out of bounds and we are continuing to review the matter.

I can write off Sergio’s feud with Tiger over the last few weeks as Sergio being Sergio. But his comment in Europe crossed the line. It’s extremely unfortunate for Sergio as well, who prior to Saturday at The Players appeared to be moving forward — with his putting, with his maturity and toward a major championship.

But he’s taken a huge step backward, and has likely done irreparable damage to his image. And if he thought the hecklers were tough to deal with at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York City, he’s got something coming for him at Merion next month.

Click here to see what members are saying in the forums.

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

48 Comments

48 Comments

  1. Butchercass

    Jun 11, 2013 at 6:44 am

    Firstly, American fans really need to have a good look at themselves. Shouts of “egg salad, get in the hole, mashed potato, fried chicken.. (oh wait, is that last one rascist?) *gulp..Let the golf speak volumes and mute the small percentage of “fans” that persist in shouting when a player hits a shot. It’s infururaiting.

    Sergio has had some banter..end of conversation.Leave the lad alone. He’s is breath of fresh air if you ask me to all these young robots coming through the ranks. It’s only rascist as it was aimed at a black person. Anyone seen Django at the cinema? Great film.. not rascist.

  2. Mick J

    May 30, 2013 at 4:41 pm

    I am way more upset at the media reaction to this than to Sergio’s actual comments

  3. Jack

    May 29, 2013 at 1:40 pm

    Sergio is a person of the world and is not subject to the idiotic lowest common denominator thinking that has occurred in the USA. His comments were just a joke, nothing more. The behavior of the person asking the question is actually more relevant in terms of racist remarks.

  4. Michael

    May 29, 2013 at 11:54 am

    Tiger said that the Marshall informed him that Sergio had already hit. Then he proceeded to grab his club. The Marshall in an interview said that they rarely speak to the players and no one told Tiger that Sergio had hit. Who is the Liar?

  5. sss2013

    May 25, 2013 at 12:46 am

    What really gets me in all the media coverage is that most articles come across as Tiger being an active participant in all mess-up when he’s hardly said a word. To Tiger, Sergio is nothing but an annoyance not worthy of much consideration or waste of voice…note his “no” response. The media is trying to make Tiger look as “bad” in a tit-for-tat cat fight when he couldn’t care less. HOWEVER, when the uninformed reads articles, it seems as if Tiger going back-and-forth. What a joke…

    • Servost

      May 26, 2013 at 8:09 am

      It helps when you completely own the other guy. Sergio needs to just stop talking about Tiger. And win a few majors, he should do that too.

  6. Billymack572

    May 24, 2013 at 9:55 pm

    Why is this getting more coverage than Tiger’s incorrect drop at the Players, or is it too near to home and damaging to TV ratings to suggest that the prodigal son might be playing at the edge of the rules (have we forgotten the drop at the Masters already?)……

  7. Glen

    May 24, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    Regarding Fuzzy’s statement all those years ago. If you ever get into Augusta you will find that the House Dinner is Fried Chicken with Collard Greens. The press neglected to do any research and blew a non-story into a racial one. It was bad journalism at best and a pre-cursor to today’s journalistic ineptness.

  8. Brad

    May 24, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    Stupid comment from Sergio. Less stupid (but still boy-like) smirking in various press conferences recently from a guy (Tiger) with some real moral issues. Both have incredible game – Tiger is currently in a class by himself. When will a Hogan, Nelson, Nicklaus etc. emerge and bury these immature, stupid boys? Probably never — we have a system now that plants and grows little Scott Hochs and they seem to choke everything else out at an early stage in this sport. (Right now, their patron saint — Finchem — is busy making dangerous noise about the new anchored putting real.)

  9. Keith

    May 24, 2013 at 11:29 am

    Was Sergio’s latest comment out of line? Sure.

    However, it is the media that should be apologizing. I guarantee that if no one had specifically asked Garcia about the Players Incident then he wouldn’t have brought it up. The media thrives on controversy. They know all of the right buttons to push to elicit their desired responses.

  10. Servost

    May 24, 2013 at 9:27 am

    I think Sergio will be playing a lot more golf in Europe for a while. Ryder Cup matches between these two should be interesting.

  11. golftw

    May 23, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    Maybe he just makes good fried chicken; people need to stop pulling race into every single comment. Furthermore, you come off as quite conceded and seem to think you are above Sergio as a person.

  12. scoot

    May 23, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    cheese with that wHine

  13. scoot

    May 23, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    Tiger has owned the little boy for as long as he’s been on the scene. Sergio can’t handle not being anywhere close to the caliber of golf that he is up against. Now Tiger owns him in golf and war of words. Now Sergio is in the alligators. I bet he doesn’t break 80 at the US Open if he even shows up.He will probably have an excuse as to why he can’t make it to the event. He deserves this scrutiny even before this last bit of smartelic childlike behavior. How bout some cherse with that wHine El Nino

  14. Matt

    May 23, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Ben – Oh, I see what you did there!.. You “refrained” from saying what you thought, by saying what you thought. Is the air thin up there?

  15. yo!

    May 23, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    I have a feeling Sergio will keep his mouth shut (about non-golf matters) from now on … losing your meal ticket from sponsorship is quite a motivator.

  16. Seth

    May 23, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    Tiger and Sergio are just as imperfect as anyone else on the planet. We all have our shortcomings, some more than others yes, but look in the mirror and start there for craps sake. Ridiculous we have to be inundated with this stupidness, yet here I am sucked in and commenting on it.

  17. bobloft

    May 23, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    Am I the only one who doesn’t care about this? Everyone is whining as much as Sergio.

  18. gus

    May 23, 2013 at 11:24 am

    I think the ultimate insult to Tiger was stereotyping him with people which he himself does not associate with.

    • B

      May 24, 2013 at 1:50 pm

      True, he’s not even 100% black. His mother is Thai.

  19. LK

    May 23, 2013 at 11:16 am

    Fried chicken does have a negative connotation bc it is unhealthy and African Americans are stereotyped as being overweight and unhealthy. Would you laugh if Sergio invited you and said he’d be serving bbq poodle? I’m tired of people saying, “But oh, it was just a joke.” How much bullying is just a joke? How many racist comments are just a joke? How many sexist things, and even sexual assault, have been justified as just a joke or “just playing around?” Hey, I know I just slapped your teen daughter on the rear but I’m just playing around. Don’t take it so seriously. See the problem here?

  20. doc19

    May 23, 2013 at 11:13 am

    Also, for those saying it may be a European not being aware thing, his statement after the fact suggests otherwise. He basically admitted as soon as he said it he realized it was a dumb thing to say… and apparently lost sleep over it.

  21. doc19

    May 23, 2013 at 11:11 am

    How did Tiger add fuel to the fire? Personally I think this whole thing was media driven to begin with, watching the Players and the coverage afterwards I felt like I was watching teenagers play “he said she said” during lunch period. It has happened in other sports, I guess it’s the new norm for golf.

    Tiger’s actual response to the apology was this: “I’m confident that there is real regret that the remark was made, The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.” Doesn’t sound like adding fuel to the fire to me.

    Is Sergio a racist? I don’t think so. Was the comment inappropriate and ill timed? Of course it was. We can debate cultural sensitivity and being PC until we are blue in the face, but we all can agree that a public figure making that statement is just plain stupid and points to poor decision making.

    It is unfortunate really, this guy has all the talent in the world, he should have been winning majors for years. But his problem has never been his swing, it’s the 1 square foot of real-estate between his ears that has held him back.

  22. bdgregor

    May 23, 2013 at 9:25 am

    I agree that Sergio screwed up, and anything even borderline racially insensitive should be reprimanded. However, I haven’t heard anyone point out something I would think is pretty obvious. Sergio has been around a long time, but do remember, he is European. People in Europe are not as aware of what is culturally insensitive in America. You do need to consider that Sergio may have used “fried chicken” as some sort of colloquialism for American food, or what us “yanks” like to eat. I would be willing to be that was more of the angle of his comment than anything sinister.

    • LK

      May 23, 2013 at 11:20 am

      Good point. Fried chicken is an awesome American creation as far as I know. But if so, Sergio would not have had a sick feeling after the dinner like he knew he was in for some serious trouble. The fact that he had a sick feeling means he knew the significance of his error and the racial connotations.

      • CJ

        May 24, 2013 at 9:11 pm

        Could’nt it be possible that someone told him immediately after dinner that what he said was and is considered racially insensitive in the USA?

  23. Mike

    May 23, 2013 at 7:22 am

    Actually Sergio didn’t start this fire by himself….the door was opened by the reporter ” jokingly” asking the question. I personally find it more offensive when a married man with two kids and a wife can’t keep his promise he made to his wife on their wedding day….just saying…..

  24. S5PJM

    May 23, 2013 at 7:17 am

    I think he was just trying to be funny and it came out wrong. I dont believe he is a raciest. He is not an AMERICAN and probably doesn’t even know why a fired chicken reference would be considered raciest by some people anyway. This is a NON ISSUE. Get on with it and play golf.

    • JKratz

      May 23, 2013 at 8:08 am

      I agree, he obviously knew a comment like that had to do with African Americans, but probably didn’t know the complete context. That being said, the media will continue to run the story into the ground like always as their main job is “shock and awe.” I’m waiting for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to now get involved until Sergio makes a large monetary contribution to one of them.

  25. yoboy24

    May 23, 2013 at 12:57 am

    If Sergio had said “fried rice” instead of chicken would this be a big deal? NOPE! And I’m a HUGE TW fan, and don’t particularly like Sergio, but this is kind of ridiculous. If he was a racist we would have known that by now. Get over it and let’s get back to TW killing him every time they tee up. kthanks.

  26. justplay

    May 23, 2013 at 12:04 am

    dude get over it !!!

  27. justplay

    May 23, 2013 at 12:02 am

    making too much out of if always with the racist card !! stop it already!!

  28. who cares

    May 22, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    no one cares about the stupid comments being made, just play golf and bring your A game to the us open next month for the fans

  29. Blanco

    May 22, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    What a dunce this man is. I heard briefly on TGC that he’s claiming ignorance to the 97 Fuzzy comment altogether. Even if he had zero knowledge of that incident (which I don’t buy for one second), he’s essentially validating that the comment was not some “reference” (to Zoeller) but racial rhetoric of his own.

    Finchem and the Euro Tour need to make it well known that such behavior won’t be tolerated in Golf and take disciplinary action. The game took a big step backwards today at the worst possible time. I hope the PGA/EuroTour and especially TMAG set the example in the hopes of “growing the game.” We need to do everything possible to make golf appealing to a new generation of young, diverse athletes from all walks of life.

  30. Zak

    May 22, 2013 at 11:17 pm

    Ron,

    If you think that it’s going to blow over before Merion, you’re underestimating the weight of the comment.

    Vitriolic? I don’t see it. Sergio set this fire all by himself.

  31. Ronald Montesano

    May 22, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    I think that you are adding fuel to the fire by suggesting that hecklers will be bad at Merion. In the first place, there will be fewer fans at Merion than Bethpage. In the second, the majority of fans that heckled Sergio were self-professed muni guys and nothing was done to corral them. The same will not take place at Merion, where the atmosphere will be more like Augusta than Bethpage. In fact, when I read your final sentence, I feel as though you were striving for a vitriolic ending. Show me that I am incorrect, please. That’s not what I expect from your writing.

  32. Cyd

    May 22, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    So Sergio dissed eldrick. Cry me a freaking river. The only people that the slimeball eldrick is a hero to is the sycophant momma’s boy and the green light girl. Not any of them are persons I would want to be around in any type of social situation.

    • Forsbrand

      May 26, 2013 at 7:17 am

      That is a funny comment man, love it. Green light girl ha ha ha, I’m gonna use that in my next conversation!

  33. Minh

    May 22, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    I completely disagree with the level of scrutiny Sergio has received. Everyone is so quick to pull the “race” card. Is it possible for anyone to take a joke? Is laughing at one’s ethnic background still possible?

    My biggest issue with these situations is people choose which stereotypes to accept and which to call “racially insensitive remarks”. Infer a Black man like fried chicken and you’re labeled a racist. Infer a Black man has a large penis and you won’t hear a peep.

    I’m of Vietnamese decent and I laugh off all Asian-related jokes. Yes, we are good at math, sure some of us might have small penises, sure some of us can’t drive, yes we all like fish and rice, and I personally don’t know of any Asian that eats cats or dogs.

    This should be a none issue.

    • world42

      May 23, 2013 at 12:00 am

      Minh, Sergio didn’t say anything about himself, he said it about another man of a different race and ethnic background. Now, if he would have that he would cook him a Spanish dish, then the humor would have been easily seen, but he used a stereotypical saying that is used as a racial slur here in America.

      • B

        May 24, 2013 at 1:46 pm

        world42, I guess what Minh trying to say is that, it’s not racially offensive until you offend Black people. Other races don’t have luxury like this and they often make a big deal of it.

    • Forsbrand

      May 26, 2013 at 7:11 am

      Absolutely, I hear lots of us fans call padraigHarrington “Paddy” or “Irish” are they being racist too? Because both words can be perceived as rasist comments. I would suggest Sergio was having a joke that has been misinterpretated.

    • JT

      May 26, 2013 at 7:48 pm

      Minh, I agree with almost everything you said but you can’t be serious about the cat and dogs thing :).

  34. Mike Hunt

    May 22, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    I can only imagine the hecklers at Merion in June. Sergio is going to get pounded by the not so morally correct US crowd

    • Forsbrand

      May 25, 2013 at 1:21 pm

      Since Golfwrx has covered a European event could we ask Golfwrx to incorporate more European Tour tournaments issues and spotlights please it would be gratefully appreciated thanks

    • free

      May 26, 2013 at 6:01 am

      “not so morally correct us crowd”?

      dude, at least Sergio confined his disparaging remarks to just tiger….

      listen, as a member of the “not so morally correct us crowd” I choose not to take offense at your comment but u may want to contact Sergio and take a seminar on moral relativism….

      see my comment below about the splinter and the log….

    • Arthur J

      May 29, 2013 at 11:14 am

      Mike Hunt? Surely that’s a wind-up.

      • Carey

        Jun 6, 2013 at 1:04 pm

        Ah, yes. A Porky’s reference. My day is complete.

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Opinion & Analysis

The 2 primary challenges golf equipment companies face

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As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!

Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.

Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.

One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?

Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.

Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.

Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”

For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…

Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…

That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.

Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.

@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic

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Fore Love of Golf: Introducing a new club concept

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Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!

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Opinion & Analysis

On Scottie Scheffler wondering ‘What’s the point of winning?’

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Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.

 

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“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”

Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.

That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.

As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.

I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.

One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.

The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.

If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.

Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.

As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.

It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.

David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.

In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:

“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”

Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

Eventually, though, something shifts.

We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.

Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.

Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.

Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.

So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.

I see someone evolving.

He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.

It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.

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