Chapter 10

USA vs The World

After shooting a 68 ... due partially to the fact that they’re reseeding all the greens as well as adding some tee boxes to lengthen the course a little for the pros ... we headed back to the Proshop together, Adam shaking my hand and placing his hand carefully on my left shoulder. We have a pretty cool friendship going on.

We met up with Steven Carley and his film crew on Saturday. First thing we did was to talk to find out what Steven wanted. He reiterated that he liked my casual style and wanted it simple. They put a radio mike on me and after a mike check, they pointed the camera at me ... I had an idea that might just work.

“Go anytime!” Steven said.

“Every time I go to a Red Robin, I am impressed not only by their employees, but the patrons are always very nice. Invariably, someone’s son or daughter comes over for an autograph ... they always smile at me; Red Robin wants you as a customer ... and so do I!”

“That’s great, how long was that?” Steve said to his camera guy.

“Exactly 20 seconds, we could fill it out with Johnny hitting some balls, with his name on the screen, then the 20, then maybe a wrap up?” he reported.

They taped me hitting some balls from both in front of me and also behind me. After about 15 minutes, they showed it to Cory and me. It looked well ... At least I didn’t stutter!

Everybody liked it and Steve, Cory and I all shook hands, and they left. I put my arms around her and kissed her. We hadn’t made love in quite some time, due to my back so we made a date for tonight. She picked up my clubs and we left.

That night we made sweet love, first with me on top ... then Cory climbed aboard. We had our first orgasms since two days before I fell to my knees in pain.

The next morning, we packed up and got aboard a plane headed to the Monterey area of California. We got a rental from Hertz and drove to the Pebble Beach Lodge, where according to Cory, we got the last available room ... costing more than we’d ever spent on a place to stay, but I am Johnny Masters.

There are a number of 18-hole golf courses that are part of the Pebble Beach Resorts ... Spyglass Hill Golf Course, The Links at Spanish Bay, The Del Monte Golf Course and of course Pebble Beach Golf Links plus a few more. There is also a nine hole all three-par course called the Peter Hay Golf Course. That might be fun to try. I wondered what the record is?

This tournament has a lot of history for my Dad and me; he watched it on TV back when it was called the Bing Crosby National-Pro-Amateur, sometimes shortened to the ‘Crosby Clambake.’ After Bing Crosby died in 1977, his family hosted the tournament ... the Crosby name was dropped after the 1985 playing, and the AT&T Corporation became the title sponsor in 1986.

It is currently played on three different courses ... The Pebble Beach Golf Links (Par 72-7040), Spyglass Hill Golf Course (Par 72-6980), and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

I didn’t originally foresee my being ready to play in time for this tournament, but I’d posted that I was interested in it ... so here I am. The local Pebble Beach officials determine which professional gets which Amateur, typically TV and movie celebrities ... along with athletes from other sports.

Fifty-two two-person teams will play on each of the golf courses, for a field of 156 Pro’s and 156 Amateurs. Two distinct tournaments are going on at the same ... Individual Pro’s and Pro-Am teams. Additionally, there are two cuts ... a 54 hole cut for the Individual Pro, the low 60 scorers plus ties ... and a 54 hole cut for the low 25 teams, plus ties.

This is one of the first tournaments of the year that has a ‘full field,’ meaning all the top-rated players in the PGA are here. Only three times in its history has a Non-USA player won this tournament ... the best under par anyone has had was 20 under, that might just be broken!

I was eager to play a round at this elevation ... to see how the ball flies and such. Being there five days early, Cory and I got to The Links at Spanish Bay to practice and play a round. We got there and saw some fellow players limbering up and practicing. We checked in at the Proshop, then went to go hit some balls.

“It’s JOHNNY!” I heard a couple of them say as Cory and I got set up. Bubba, Phil and Bo Van Pelt came up to us.

“How’re ya feeling?” Bubba asked.

“Pretty good ... No pain!” I replied.

Bo said, “When you are at your best Johnny, the rest of us are playing for second.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Phil remarked. “Is it true that the Johnny Masters Invitational will be giving out over a million bucks to the top three players?”

To this Cory remarked, “Yep, first place is still $2mil, second is now $1.3mil, while third is $1mil ... Everyone who plays is guaranteed at least $100thousand! Total purse in $16million!”

“Well, good luck to you,” Phil said.

“Not too good of luck,” Bubba remarked.

Bo said, “We’re all glad to see you and your wife back on the tour, Johnny ... whether you win, place or show ... have a great time! Oh, Cory ... my wife Carrie is looking forward to the JMI ... She wasn’t about to let me near any of the LPGA Hotties!”

“Wonderful, Bo ... thanks for the heads up?” my wife said.

Before starting my official warm up, I gave my girl a nice kiss. There were chuckles all around me, but she handed me my seven-iron, which I practice swung both right and left handed, still with no latent pain or ache of any kind.

I was just about done with my warm-up ... when Cory took my two-iron and handed me Bertha. “Swing within your boundaries ... you will be the best,” she remarked.

I took it from her as I felt eyes on me from all around. I teed it up, addressed the ball ... and hit it over the back of the Practice range netting, 380 yards away. I heard some people clapping and I turned to see Bubba wiping a tear from his face and many of the other pros were very kind.

I turned to them and asked, “Who wants a game?”

Bubba, Justin Rose and a golfer I didn’t know were first to raise their hands. The unknown golfer came up and said, “Hello Johnny, my name is Michael Thompson ... it is indeed a pleasure to meet you ... from what I have heard from Bubba and Adam Scott, you probably are the one to beat this coming weekend.”

“I prefer not being in the spotlight, I just love playing golf Michael ... nice to have met you. Let’s play!”

I wasn’t going to play to shoot any special score, just practice and have fun. We all teed off, and I saw a familiar face running (more like lumbering) to catch up with me ... David!

“Well now, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he said starting to give me a slap on the shoulder, but looked at Cory first ... who gave him a nod in approval. “I heard ya got here early, do you know who your Amateur is yet?”

“No, when do you find out?” I asked.

“Actually, I already know who you are playing with ... however Cory may not appreciate it.”

“David,” Cory said, “Go ahead and tell me who my hubby is playing with in the Pro-Am event?”

David stopped in his tracks and said, “Jessica Alba.”

“Cool ... how good is she at golf?” I asked.

“She’s listed as a 22 handicap,” David said starting to walk again, jogging to catch back up again. “You are OK with that Cory?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I trust my hubby, and he knows I keep a very sharp knife in the bag at all times,” she said with the cutest of smiles. We got to the first of the second shots ... everyone got on in two except Bo.

I went up and marked my ball, I’d be the last to putt ... I put it five feet left of the pin.

Watching the rest of the guys approach and putt, I dropped mine for an eagle. We walked to the second hole ... a deliciously short Par-Four at 307 yards. With the honors, I pulled my four-wood out and put it on the upper tier of the green, about 12 feet past the pin.

“Bo,” Bubba said, “You might be right about us all playing for second place.”

“Do you want me to not play my best, find a different caddy and play for the top ten instead? My father told me a very long time ago ... to play your very best ... every day!” I said.

Bubba replied, “Sorry Johnny ... forget what I said if nothing else I can say to my kids and grandkids, ‘I played alongside the greatest pure striker of the ball!’”

“Sorry I got so defensive, guys ... I feel lucky to be here today. Come on, who’s next?”

The day finished well, with me shooting a 64. We all shook hands as we departed from the course. We drove back to our hotel, glad we lucked into a space with its own spa out on the porch.

We both changed into a suit as we got in the spa. “What was that all about today, Johnny?” Cory asked me.

“I don’t know ... they were talking about how good I am and how I got this ‘locked up!’ I don’t feel that way ... I have seen tournaments with Dad where a guy came from behind and beat everybody.”

“Johnny, everybody isn’t as good as you are ... you are remarkable, remember Phil at the 2006 US Open? He had a one stroke lead teeing off on the 18^th hole on Sunday ... he overthought the rest of the hole, getting a double bogie and finished one shot out of the playoff. What was it he said?”

I remembered that interview, he said, “I am such an idiot!”

“Yeah, and as long as I am your caddy ... I will never let you do anything remotely as stupid as he did, OK?”

“Remember what happened to your best buddy Adam Scott last year at the British Open?” she said.

“Yeah, he shot a 64 in the first round ... and had a four shot lead starting the final 18. He was five ahead of Ernie after 14 holes and very unceremoniously bogied the last four holes ... giving the tournament to Ernie,” I recalled.

“Whatever else I do in life Cory ... don’t let me go through something like that!”

“Don’t worry lover ... it won’t happen on my watch,” she said leaning in and giving me a truly wonderful kiss.

“I am hungry ... Let’s look for a Red Robin to go to,” I said getting out and wrapping a towel around my waist. I went to take a shower and I felt a hand on my back, caressing me from behind.

“Oh, Jessica ... I knew we’d make a fabulous twosome.” A hand reached around and grabbed my nuts as I heard a voice, “Want to try that again, Cannon?”

“Oh, Cory ... I love you, you silly girl. She’s pretty, your prettier ... she’s a 22 handicap ... that should work in our favor. That’s like spotting us 22 under par to start with. David also told me that the course we play on first is MPCC, I’d love to play them all in advance ... we will try Spyglass in the morning, OK?”

She let go of me as she washed my back gently as possible. Then she turned me around and we kissed one another, for a deep passionate and very satisfying kiss. We finished and got out. We got dressed and found there wasn’t a Red Robin within forty miles of where we were.

I grabbed the brochure from our hotel and found there were a number of places to eat dinner, so we dressed up a bit and found The Tap Room, a nice looking restaurant on site.

Walking in, we saw a number of folks we knew, Adam stood up and motioned us over. He introduced us to Ana Ivanovic, his girl and we all sat down.

“I am glad you finally brought her here to meet us, Adam ... I was beginning to think that maybe you’d made up that you were dating a Professional Tennis player,” my lovely wife said causing a look to happen between them.

“I understand you practiced at Spanish Bay today. How did it go?” Adam said trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, I shot a comfortable 64, could have been better, but since this time last month I was on my back in pretty excruciating pain. Thanks to Andre Agassi and this little lady next me ... I am able to play again, competitively.”

“How did Andre Agassi fit into it?” Adam asked.

“Johnny,” Ana interrupted, “Did you go thru that Active Release Technique program?”

“As a matter of fact, I did ... finding a Loveland area doctor who specializes in the program. Thru Dr. Schick, his associates and my wife, they’re the ones who helped me get better. Without them, I’d probably be barely walking on my own by now,’ I responded.

“Adam, you have played over in Great Britain in the British Open. How does Spanish Bay compare to the links courses over there?”

A waiter interrupted us, and each of us ordered from their menu.

“Well, Cannon ... is it OK to call you that again?”

“Yeah, Adam,” I replied.

“What we consider links courses in the US, are similar in scope and design to what they have in the United Kingdom, with a few key differences. Take Spanish Bay or Pebble Beach ... they’re meticulously pampered and generously watered and have a fair amount of trees on them. In comparison, over on the other side of ‘The Pond,’ they’re all on the coast with dunes, not having many water hazards and few if any trees. The earth moving to make those courses was done mostly by hand and not by machine. The fairways are typically uneven, and they have what are called ‘pot bunkers.’ I will explain that in a minute.”

Our waiter brought our water and appetizers. I put a couple on my plate, took my wife’s hand and let him continue.

“The rough is thicker than they have around here, with the exception of wherever the US Open in being played. There’s always the wind ... being on the coast the wind affects just about every shot on every hole. Players who shoot the ball low and accurate will fare better than those of us who hit everything high with a draw. Lastly, are the ‘Pot Bunkers.’ Pot is short for pothole, typically round and deep, so getting in one causes a lot of trouble. You could easily be so deep that you must take a shot away from the green in an effort to get towards the hole. Unless you know the course well, you may not even see the bunker until you are in it.”

With that explanation, our food arrived. I gave my gal a kiss on the hand and we dug in. It was really good, Cory got the Pork Chop dinner and I got the Angus Filet, while Adam and Ana both ordered the Atlantic Salmon meal. As we were wrapping up, Adam asked, “Where are you practicing tomorrow, Johnny?”

“The Spyglass Hill course, want to join us ... you could start your training with Ana...”

“Unless you have already,” my wife finished.

They looked at each other for a moment, whispered into each other’s ear, then said, “Sounds like fun ... what time?”

“How does 9am sound?” I suggested.

“Great ... See you then,” Adam responded.

“Lovely to have met you Ana, take care of her Adam,” I said as we left.

“CANNON!”

I heard a voice I knew, saw Tiger standing up, “Are you and Adam playing somewhere tomorrow?”

“Yeah, Spyglass, at 9am sharp ... join us if you’d like?” Cory said.

Clinking his water glass with a spoon, Tiger said, “We have got three playing Spyglass tomorrow at 9am ... who wants to be our fourth?”

“Who’s playing?” was heard.

“Johnny, go ahead,” Tiger said.

“Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, and Johnny Masters!”

I saw Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk and a bunch more stand up.

“Go ahead, Johnny ... pick our fourth,” Tiger said.

“Wow ... no pressure!” I said to a roomful of chuckles. “Luke, Luke Donald ... be our Fourth?”

“Sure will, see ya there.”

They all sat down. I stayed standing, “We need an audience, so everybody here is invited to come and watch the American’s against the World at 9am sharp at Spyglass!”

The next morning, we got there at eight am, apparently the first of our foursome to arrive. Cory and I started our practice regimen as we saw Tiger come up with his caddy Joe LaCava. Joe and Cory struck up a conversation.

Both Adam and Luke showed up about fifteen minutes later, with their caddies. There was quite the crowd aggregating behind the first tee, as we strode to it.

As we all got there, I asked, “Regular stroke play, or are you interested in something else?”

“What do you have in mind,” Luke asked.

“The scoring from my Tournament, or the Cory Modified Stableford System,” I said looking over at her.

“Remind us of that, please?” Adam asked.

“I call it the Simplified Stableford,” my wife said,

Double Bogey minus 6 pts

Bogy minus 3 pts

Par minus 1 point

Birdie plus 3 pts

Eagle plus 6 pts

Double Eagle plus 12 pts

Triple Eagle plus 15 pts

“A par will lose you a point?” Luke remarked.

“That sounds like fun ... It’s Johnny and me against Luke and Adam ... both scores count?” Tiger said looking at Cory.

“Yup ... Also keep track of both of your and your opponent’s total putts ... that’s the tiebreaker that Commissioner Finchem has approved for the JMI!”

“Who has Honors?” Adam asked.

The lowest accumulative World Ranking,” Cory said.

Luke went over to Tee off, “What’re we playing for today?”

“How about the winning team gets dinner paid by the losing team?” Ana said.

“Great idea ... Ladies and gentlemen this foursome starts with the current Third ranked player in the World, Luke Donald!” I said causing applause from an ever-growing group of people.

He got what looked like his driver and hit it just past where the hole doglegs to the left ... it is a 595-Yard Par-Five.

“Next on the Tee is the Fifth Ranked player in the World, Adam Scott!” I announced again. I nudged Tiger to play first, he agreed.

“Ladies and Gentlemen ... the Second Ranked player in the World, Tiger Woods!” the crowd made a good amount of noise as he got up and hit it quite well.

Cory took over, “And last, but not least, is the 157^th Ranked player in the World ... Johnny ‘The Cannon’ Masters!”

I raised my hand as I asked, “Cory, hand me Bertha!” She did with a bit of flair as I teed it up.

OK Johnny ... stay within yourself, swing hard but not too hard. You went over this course last night with Cory looking at the Hole-by-Hole Course Tour. You know what you can do ... so just do it... No Mercy!

I was ready and I took it back and hit a truly remarkable shot, drawing in and staying in the fairway.

The crowd roared as I picked up my tee and started walking to the first of the drives. I gave Bertha back to Cory and we held hands as we walked.

“Great shot Johnny,” Tiger said. “You outdrive Bubba, don’t you?”

“Yeah, sometimes ... depends if I am playing long or playing strategy.”

We got to Luke’s shot about 280 yards away ... he laid up. We next got to Tigers ... about 265 out, he took out a two-iron and laid it up as well. Adam was ten yards closer and did the same. I was only about 230 out, so I took my four-wood, with my caddy’s approval, and hit an easy shot that landed softly on the green, although over 20 feet below the pin.

Tiger gave me a soft pat on the back and said, “That’s MY partner!” to a swarm of laughs from our crowd.

Everybody got on the green, while I marked my ball. Tiger made his putt for a birdie, Luke and Adam missed their birdie putts, getting pars and with Cory’s help, I made my eagle. I saw everyone working on the pts, so I asked Cory to announce.

“The Americans are at plus nine and the World is at minus two after the first hole,” to which they all agreed.

The Second hole is a 349-Yard Par-Four that is mostly straight but has a bunker in front of the left side of the green.

With my honors, I teed up and was going to hit an easy shot with Bertha. Tiger came up to me and asked, “Where are you aiming at, Johnny?” to which I answered between the tree and the bunker, he shook his head telling me to go for it.

After a very nice and easy shot with Bertha, it landed in the middle of the green to the roar of the crowd. Tiger came up next and played a more traditional shot that landed in the fairway, just short of the bunker.

Both Luke and Adam ended up next to Tiger. Putting his arm on my shoulder, Tiger asked, “You haven’t played here before, have you?”

“No, Cory and I found a Course tour online and she extrapolated the distances from there, that’s why she’s so important to me!”

I handed her Bertha and I got my putter, and we walked together holding hands all the way to where the guys were. Luke went first then Adam, I went to Tiger and said, “The pin is in the front ... be careful!” and I went over to Cory and saw him hit it real high and landed it soft 12 feet past the hole.

Cory and I went up to our ball, 27 feet past the pin and it looked like a very fast putt. She gave me the read and backed away. I barely touched the ball and it started to roll, ending pin high, but to the right, meaning I pushed it a bit. I tapped in for my birdie as Cory handed the pin to Joe. Tiger had an eight-foot uphill putt, which he drained for his birdie. Both Luke and Adam made their birdie putts as well.

Cory announced, “After two holes of play, the American team is at plus 15 and the World is at plus 4.”

The other caddies agreed, and nodded.

Holes 3, 4, and 5 we all Birdied, giving Tiger and me a plus 33 and the other guys a plus 22.

I was a bit tired, so I told Cory and we decided to swing a bit easier. Hole six is a 446-Yard Par-Four with a real narrow fairway, as you get closer to the green.

I hit an easy four-wood leaving myself 120 yards to the middle of the green. Tiger and the others all did the same. This hole would be a chipping contest.

Luke was first, hitting an easy eight-iron to the middle of the green, Tiger was next, taking his nine-iron and hit it past the pin, but the backspin took him to less than three feet from the pin. Adam, with Ana’s help, decided to use his eight-iron and it hit and released forward running past the pin about ten feet.

This was outside the range of my lob wedge, so after a discussion with my wife, I took a seven-iron ... deciding to pitch the ball into the front of the green and let it roll to the pin. I practice swung left-handed a few times, feeling something release in my back ... a good thing, I think.

“Hands forward,” Cory reminded, I swung, it hit the first time just on the green, then released and went into the hole.

The crowd was quite thrilled with that shot, as I did something of a Tiger pump with my fist. He saw it and said, “Not Bad, kid!”

They all got their birdies.

The seventh hole is a 529-Yard Par-Five, with water in front of the left side, so keeping right is important.

I knew that with my two-wood I was in no danger of getting to the water, I took an easy swing putting it just at 300 yards off the tee. Turning to see Tiger clapping, I went to Cory ... who gave me a kiss.

“Joe, don’t get any ideas about getting kisses, after this drive, OK?” Tiger said to his caddy of seventeen months, who grinned as Tiger hit one long, sailing it past me. “Finally, I outdrive the Cannon!”

The other guys all hit it well, farther than I ... but not up to Tiger’s shot. I went to my ball and hit an easy four-wood, drawing it to land on the green ... to a nice round of applause from our personal pack of plangent people.

The rest of them used irons and all made the green in two. Farthest from the pin was Adam, who missed his eagle putt by not hitting it hard enough ... he tapped in for a bird. Tiger was next, eager for an eagle ... and dropped it in, punching his fist. Luke settled and made his eagle ... as did I.

We all made par on eight and nine, causing Cory to announce, “After Nine holes, The Cannon is at plus 28 and his partner Tiger is at plus 22, for a total of 50 pts so far ... Luke is at plus 18 while his partner Adam has plus 15, for a combined score of plus 33 ... The Americans are ahead by 17 pts as we all take a little break.”