Disappointed...Again

   Truthfully, I had not even heard of Briny Baird. He was playing in the McGladrey Classic last week, playing well in fact, and had a chance to win on the last day, even up to the last hole.

   Baird has been playing professional golf since 1995 and holds the unenviable record of the player who has won the most money, over 13 million dollars in his case, without winning a PGA golf title. He has played in 365 tournaments, finishing second a few times, but never won.

   Watching him come to the 18th tee on last Sunday, tied for the lead, and then watch him hook his drive into the fairway bunker, was hard. I was pulling for him to break his drought and win. It looked like this would be his time until that shot.

   With his opponent in good position for a second shot to the green on this par 4 hole, Baird really had no choice, if he wanted to win. His one chance to do it on that finishing hole was to try a miraculous sand shot from a bad position in that trap. The ball was close to the left edge of the trap on the upslope. He had to hit from a stance with the ball below his feet, with a long iron, in order to reach the green, a very tough shot, to say the least. He could have played it safe and pitched out to the fairway, try to hit it close to the flag and sink the putt for par, but, even that was not a gimmie par. Play for the win from the trap, or hope for a tie from the fairway?

   Unfortunately, he did not hit it well, and the ball ended up in a water hazard, well short of the green. After taking a penalty drop, he proceeded to hit the ball on the green and sink a longish putt for a bogey, losing the tournament by one shot to his playing partner, Chris Kirk.

   I could almost see the pain and disappointment in his eyes as he congratulated the winner and walked toward the scorer's tent. So close, again.

   How a person handles setbacks can tell you a lot about his character. I really don't know how this golfer handled this one. Outwardly, the gracious loser. Inwardly?

   Does he blame others, maybe his caddy, for giving him bad advice? Does he blame God for letting him get into that position? Does he put all the blame on himself? Does he play the "what if" game?

   Or, does he go back to the practice tee on the next Monday, as he has 364 other times after a loss, and get ready to compete again?

    I do not know Briny Baird at all, so I cannot speculate as to how he will handle all of this. I can only pray that God will speak to him in his disappointment and assure him that his life is in His control.

   Handling disappointment is hard, but doing it without God in your life is harder.