For all the glitz and glamour of professional golf, supposedly, I was one of the 80 odd players that left the course on Friday in Japan without being paid a cent. It's a brutal sport in that way, we worked just as hard as the 60 guys playing the weekend but the reality is we go home unpaid!
The rewards though for having a good week make it worthwhile doing and there aren't many jobs out there where you can have the opportunity to "win the lotto" each week if you like. It's a tough balance to keep your emotions in check when you miss a cut. You have worked damn hard on your game and your preparation and some weeks you have actually played well, only to have your competitors play better and you still find yourself out on your ear! Travelling in the train back to the hotel yesterday with Fiji international Champion Steven Jeffress we were chatting about it. He was a little disappointed in missing the cut after a solid day one and a poor finish to round two but he made a statement that I really liked. Amid his frustration, and man can this job be frustrating, he said "it's important that we don't get bitter, we get better!" I loved that because at the end of the day we weren't good enough this week. Whether that be your putting, your driving, your iron play or even your headspace, or some weeks all of those things in one, we need to go away and get better! Be better the next time we get this awesome opportunity to do what we love for a living.
It's one of the parts of my job that I really enjoy, hanging our with some great people. Steven and I have travelled a bit this past year and although he's not on the Japanese Tour this yr it was great to have him around this week. I spent some time chatting about our "shelf life" out here on tour and plans to get the best out of ourselves and what we need to do. Despite missing the cut this week I am seriously motivated right now with my golf. I had a solid couple of weeks and most importantly saw real improvement in my short game which was seriously poor in the first week up here in Japan a month ago. I devoted most of my hours to solving those issues and these past two weeks saw much better results. Also my ability to shape the ball right to left continued to improve and be more automatic. I am so keen to practice at the moment and can't wait to be back working on my game, trying to find that consistency of greatness we all strive for.
Young Jack has somehow survived this trip. He has been a refreshing reminder of my youth and also my first trips to Japan when I had no clue! He has been a great caddy that was a great help on course and hopefully there will both be more opportunities for him to caddy and also that he learnt heaps for the development of his own game. I will never forget some of the stuff he got up to, popcorn for breakfast, sleeping through alarms for early morning starts, living on Maccas and chocolate milk, spending his cash on a basketball arcade game, catching ability of my 5 yr old daughter, locking himself out of his room in his underpants, possibly taking something from somewhere he shouldn't have and then yesterday missing the train back to the hotel when the other 4 of us made it. It has been an adventure Jack, one I have loved being a part of!!
The joy, the absolute joy of my life is that I get to arrive home to my gorgeous wife and three amazing kids today, now that's winning!!
See you on the next adventure, until then you will find me working my backside off to be better the next time I get the chance!!