This morning my thoughts turned again toward that golf tournament, but in a little different vein. I looked at the leaderboard to see who had made the cut and who had failed. I noted that there were 60+ golfers, good golfers, who had not played well enough to land above the cut line. I thought about those men, who had played for a couple of days, but who would not be on the course on Saturday or Sunday.
What did they do when they got up this morning?
We know most of the names of the leading players from the first two days:
| 1 | 5 |  | Sergio Garcia | -11 | 2:40pm | color | info | 68 | 65 | 133 | ||||
 | 2 | 1 |  | Tiger Woods | -10 | 2:40pm | color | info | 67 | 67 | 134 | ||||
| T3 | 49 | | Kevin Chappell | -9 | 2:30pm | color | info | 69 | 66 | 135 | ||||
| T3 | 24 |  | Lee Westwood | -9 | 2:30pm | color | info | 69 | 66 | 135 | ||||
But how about the stories of the ones at the bottom?
| CUT | 36 | | Derek Ernst | color | 74 | 81 | 155 |
| CUT | 123 | | Tommy Gainey | color | 75 | 80 | 155 |
| CUT | 67 | | John Rollins | color | 77 | 79 | 156 |
How do these guys feel about the first two days?
I have worked our local PGA event here on the Island for the past three years and have walked around with several professional golfers whose identities are not household names. I have watched their games and their attitudes and demeanor and their ball-striking ability, and I know these guys are good, real good. I notice that the man who won the tournament here last October, Tommy Gainey, was among those who did not do that well over these past few days down in Florida.
We tend to look at the headlines and see who is doing well at any given time. We know the names of those who win and who get the big bucks. But what of the others?
Does God care about who wins and who does not at these tournaments? I'm sure that it all figures into the big picture somewhere, but I do know that He cares for each one of those men on that leaderboard and all those who strive to have their names on that someday, no matter what the order of their finish.
I can only hope that those who did not make the cut in this particular tournament will get up this morning, pick up their Bibles, read and pray and ask God what is next for them, even in this day. There can be a multitude of possible answers to this prayer, for me as well as for them, and the answer does not have to revolve around golf. Our identity is more than a game, it consists more of who God has called us to be.
And that is the good news for everyone, even those guys who got cut yesterday.
Embrace it.
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