A Thought on Kevin Na's 16 at Valero



Photo from pga.com

27 year old Kevin Na knocked in a four foot putt on the 9th hole of the Valero Open today. It was the last in an accumulation of 16 strokes and penalties. Not a good hole for the young man, however it was one better than Chris Gane’s 17 on the 18th hole of the 2003 Diageo Championship and two shy of John Daly’s 18 in 1998 at Bay Hill. Unfortunately, it was all caught on camera since Na was the feature player of the day.

I read several blogs, accounts and comments today about this terrible hole. I guess what really bothers me is how many people out there really seem to enjoy someone else’s struggles. Some people seemed to relish the chance to say “I could do better than that!” He’s been made fun of, second-guessed, put down and laughed at by a lot of people on the internet.

As I watched the replay I was impressed by Kevin; not his golf on this hole or his decision making, but how he handled the situation. I’ve watched other golfers curse a blue streak, break clubs and even walk off in disgust and frustration. Kevin however for the most part kept his cool. He did rush a few shots and drop his club when he hit the drive for the second time into the trees. But, I saw his integrity when he said he thought the ball came back and hit his pant leg. That one cost him an extra shot. Then as he finally got out of the trees with his 13th shot he came out smiling. He then proceeded to shoot 3 under par on the back nine.

I see nothing funny in laughing at people’s struggles. Every one of us has made embarrassing and stupid mistakes in life. We’ve all made bad decisions. We’ve all been in situations where we’d like a “do over”. We’ve all been embarrassed by something we’ve done in life. The only difference is that Kevin’s was caught on film. How would we feel if our bad days were filmed for everyone else to see?

Making fun of people when they are down is simply trying to find a way to make us look better. If we can somehow make others look bad or point out their weaknesses it somehow raises our stature.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessolonica to “encourage each other and build each other up”. Of all the articles I happen to read they all dwelt on the 16 strokes on hole number 9. Not one of them talked about how he kept his cool and came back with that 3 under par on the back nine. I hope his fellow golfers took time to place a hand on his shoulder and encourage him.

Kevin Na will probably not make the cut tomorrow, but I also doubt that he’ll ever shoot anywhere close to another 16.

Next time before we judge someone, we should look in the mirror and ask ourselves, “What if that were me? How would I want to be treated?” And then remember that little saying we have been taught all our lives, “Do unto others, what you would have them do unto you.”