Keep calm, swing on
Shawn Stefani was cruising along, enjoying a day of brilliant sunshine and excellent golf, when he stepped to the 11th tee and made a total hash of things.
He hit his tee shot in the water. Hey, it happens, right?
So then he took a drop and hit his next shot into a bunker. With his next shot, he failed to escape that bunker.
It was all caving in on him. He had a bogey already and wasn’t yet on the green.
Stefani swung again, blasting the ball to 8 feet, 6 inches from the pin. But his ensuing putt traveled exactly 4 feet, 2 inches. So he had a 4-foot, 4-inch putt for quadruple bogey.
Which he made, blessedly.
The standard-bearer for Stefani’s group replaced a red 12 with a red 8.
On national TV, David Feherty cracked, “Is it just me or did the pro-am just break out?”
And that should have been it for Stefani, right? Nobody recovers from that.
Except here we are, headed into another Sunday of golf and sunshine, and the man Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and others are chasing is none other than Shawn Stefani, whose score is once again represented by a red 12.
“Very satisfying,” said Stefani. “I managed to keep it going, stay patient and things worked out great.”
This, by the way, should be a lesson for all of us. About golf and also about life. Bad stuff happens. Balls go in the water. Eight-foot putts go four feet. But the key is what happens next.
Do you pitch a fit? Panic? Scream at your caddie or your wife? Do you kick the cat and break the putter? Or take a deep breath and figure that if you keep doing your best, it will all work out?
Stefani, 31, went with the latter approach. Which is particularly impressive, given that this is his first year on the PGA Tour. But, then, he’s had more practice than most rookies at dealing with the vicissitudes of life.
Stefani turned pro in 2005. He spent seven years on the minitours. This may not have been good for his ego, but it taught him some important things.
“We tend to be wanters,” he said. “Human nature is we want things. I worked my tail off growing up to become a professional golfer and play on the PGA Tour, and, you know, it didn’t kind of happen when I wanted it to, but I just kept working and working and working.”
Fast forward to Saturday, after the debacle at 11. Stefani took a moment to calm himself. “You just deal with it, you know?” he said. “Things happen and you just have to deal with them and move on. You can’t fret about it. You can’t let it bother you. Because it bothers you out there, you’re toast.”
Stefani parred 12 and 13. Then he birdied 14, which definitely improved his mood. But then he was back in the water on 15 and, OK, at that point even he lost his mind, right?
Nope. He chipped in from 49 feet. See how it all works?
“It’s who gets over it the fastest and who moves on the fastest,” he said. “Things will turn, they always do.”
With that bit of redemption behind him, Stefani was off and sailing again. He birdied the last three holes to get himself right back to 12 under par. Stefani may not be the comeback player of the year, but he was certainly the comeback player of this day.
And now he’s in a position he’s never known before, leading a PGA tournament with 18 holes to go. Among those poised to pass him should he stumble is the great Mickelson, of whom Stefani says, “I even like watching him.”
So that is the challenge facing Stefani. He may not win the tournament, but here’s betting he won’t come apart.
“This is what I’ve worked for my whole life, to be in this position,” he said. “Tomorrow will be great.”
Nationwide race postponed: The NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway was postponed Saturday night until 10 a.m. CDT Sunday because of rain. The race was set to begin at 7 p.m., but rain began falling about 40 minutes before the scheduled start.
Vettel takes Canadian GP pole: Sebastian Vettel is hoping to finally convert a spot at the front of the Canadian Grand Prix field into a place on the top of its podium.
The Formula One points leader earned his third straight pole position at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, posting the fastest lap in abbreviated qualifying Saturday.