How Would You Handle It

Great Story...we can learn a lot from golf and golfers


Our Real Character Is Revealed When No One’s Looking
Although 43-year-old golfer J.P. Hayes has earned $7 million during his career, he struggled last year on the PGA Tour and plummeted to 176th on the money list, knocking him off the exempt list for 2009.
To earn his way back, he had to finish nationally in the top 25 of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, which takes place in three stages. He had made it through the first stage, and last month was competing in the second stage at Deerwood Country Club in McKinney, Texas.
As he was readying for his second shot on the 12th hole of the first round, his caddie accidentally tossed him a different ball than the one he’d started his round with. Hayes didn’t notice and hit it onto the green. When he marked his ball, he saw it was different. If he reported the error, it would cost him two shots, which could throw his 2009 season into jeopardy.
He didn’t hesitate to call an official over. He finished with a so-so 74. He came back the next day, however, with a 71, which would have been enough to advance him to the third stage at La Quinta, California, in December.
But that wrong ball he’d used wasn’t done with him.
That night he realized that the ball was a prototype ball that Titleist had given him to test a month before. He thought he had removed all of them from his bag. Using a non-conforming ball is an automatic disqualification. If he called an official this time, he would be ineligible to play full-time on the tour next year.
He called an official in Houston that night. “I had no choice but to take my medicine,” he told ESPN Radio. “I have some people looking down on me who would have known.”
He hopes sponsors’ exemptions and his past champions/veteran members status will get him into some lesser tournaments next year. And a lighter year will allow him to spend more time with his family. “It’s not the end of the world. It will be fine. It is fine.”
[Journal Sentinel, 11/18/08; abcnews.go.com, 11/20/08]