Doing Things the “Right” Way
As the PGA Tour continues, I couldn’t help but think about how competitive we’ve become. For those of us who are sports fans it can often be disheartening to see how far some people will go to gain an advantage over their competition. The modern sports world is full of “gates,” Spy-gate, skate gate, bounty gate, and so on. The use of performance enhancing drugs is more prevalent than ever. As a matter of fact, Mark Grace, a former major league baseball player, is credited with coining the phrase, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm and not the exception. We’ve arrived at a point that when we see greatness, we have to wonder; is this real? Is this person being honest with us?
I recently came across the story of Sam Snead, the all-time leader in PGA Tour wins. Snead is the oldest person to ever win a PGA event. He was also one of twelve people to receive the lifetime achievement award from the PGA. And while those items are all very impressive, he did a few other things on the course that are in many ways more impressive. READ MORE…
During the final round of the 1952 Jacksonville Open, one of Snead’s shots went off course and landed behind a stake marking the hole’s boundary. An out-of-bounds ball would have required Snead to “take a drop,” essentially a one-stroke penalty. Chick Harbert was playing with Snead that day and said the ball was out of bounds. Snead wasn’t sure. He called a PGA rules official to look at the ball and make a ruling. Because the players had not been notified that the boundary stakes were moved after the previous day’s round, Snead would be allowed to play the ball without a penalty.
When the round finished Snead was tied with Doug Ford for the tournament lead. Ford suggested they play an 18-hole playoff to decide the tournament. After some consideration, Snead declined and forfeited the tournament, referring to the official’s decision, “I want to be fair about it. I don’t want anyone to think I took advantage of the ruling.”
I’m sure that there are still many people involved in athletics that take pride in doing things the “right” way, and not cutting corners. Hopefully, we’ll hear more of their stories. They, like Sam Snead, can remind us that there are things in this life that are more important than getting one more win.
