Chapter 34:

MORE GOLF

“Thank you, Howitzer,” he said as the big check came over so the media can take their hundreds of pictures. Cory and I were asked to step in.

Neither the media nor the announcers asked many questions of my son. I would guess it is because he is so young. For that matter, when he 13 -15, they may start to grill him.

The FedEx Cup was announced in 2005 and awarded for the first time in 2007.

There were slight rule changes over the years, including having a four-tournament playoff season, to only a three tournament playoff season.

Nowadays, after the second event (the BMW), only 30 players advance to a no cut final tournament

This was done to ensure that any of the 30 have a chance to win, but the top players have a better chance.

I don’t believe that my son can win the FedEx Cup, but the tournament itself, at East Lake CC in Atlanta, Georgia is within his grasp.

I have played the course and this only issue is that there is a lot of water all over the place. It’s only a Par 71, and 7,374 yards long. The three of us will stay in Illinois, and leave for Vincennes in the morning by plane, and pickup everyone who wants to come along. He will need the closeness of his sister, I strongly believe.

Cory contacted Kelley to get the people motivated and packed. I know Dad may have something immovable, but I hope!

****

After his talk with his sister, we worked through the night looking at scorecards, and flyovers to determine which holes can be Bertha and which ones shouldn’t.

He saw how much water was involved, with a big smirk on his face.

Near midnight, we got to sleep planning to get up at 7:00, to get to Evansville by 8:30 and Georgia by 10:00 at the latest. They will have to meet us at Vincennes International Airport, but I see no problem in that.

It worked, we met at the private portion of VIA, getting the luggage of the four, extra people, John had things he couldn’t get out of. He planned to watch every day! His passion is for my mother, not golf!

Kelly and Jules were hyper over their first time in an airplane, but Julia and KT tried to calm them down. They brought my clubs and paraphernalia to practice with my son. I am quite certain he is going to beat me bigtime.

With Kel barely able to disconnect from her big brother, we dropped KT, the youngest girls and mom who wanted to walk when the tournament started.

Golf Channel was there to catch any interesting practice rounds, I expect they will.

Howitzer, Cory, and I arrived, practiced for twenty minutes, then went out with Jim Furyk, and Adam Scott.

“On the tee, is a practice round made up of Adam Scott, 19^th in FedEx Standings, Jim Furyk, 38^th in the FedEx Standings, Steven ‘Howitzer’ Masters, currently 12^th in the Standings. Making up the 4^th is none other than Johnny ‘Cannon’ Masters, 70^th in the points standing!”

A lilting Irish brogue came up to ask, “D’ya mind if me and a camera lad follow you four around?”

“Don’t talk too loud?” said the usually quiet Mr. Furyk.

“Adam,” I said, “Why don’t you start us off today?

Hole 1 – Par 5 – 508 yards

Adam setup, aimed to his typical right side, and put it out their nearly 300 yards smack in the middle of the fairway.

“Nice Shot, Adam,” my son said. “Am I next?”

“Go ahead,” Jim said. “I expect to be watching you all day.”

Steven giggled, set up slightly right and with his super speed follow through went 80 yards past Jim.

I’ve hit a dozen balls since my last round of golf, lining up where Steven had, with my Bertha, and it went quite well.

As we all walked off the tee, Adam asked, “So, what tournaments are you playing next year, Masters Men?”

“The Super Slam,” Steven answered. “The rest will be out after this tournament is over.”

Jim was first to hit, having a good 250 yards to go. He got his second largest wood out, practiced one, and knocked it on the green rolling almost over it.

I was next, with just under 200 to the green. I aimed just at the trap in front of the green, hoping for a draw.

I just missed the trap but stayed on the green.

On ahead was Adam out of position having to hit over a trap and stay on the green.

“I remember the Cannon practicing this kind of shot for an hour. After the first 5 or 6 landing short, he was hitting the ball almost too high and it hit the green and stopped. The ball was buried in the green and the shot was right about as long as this one is.”

His caddy handed him an eight iron, and he hit it into the center of the trap.

Howitzer, who was sharing my caddy, grabbed a 7 iron, used a half swing and sent it directly at the pin, and it rolled in the cup due to backspin.

“Maybe we should teach him how to gamble, we could make a bundle,” Jim Furyk remarked.

After First Hole:

Jim – One Under

Adam – Even Par

Johnny – Even Par

Steven – Two Under

Hole 2 – Par 3 – 194 yards

“Why would I gamble after making six million playing golf, gentleman,” Steven said, grabbing a 6 iron to tee off with.

He aimed at the pin, taking a bit off his backswing, and it hit on the green and rolled to a foot from the pin.

After Two Holes:

Jim – Two Under

Adam – One Under

Johnny – One Under

Steven – Three Under

“Steven,” Adam said, “You are swinging faster from when I first saw you, do you know your swing speed?”

“I am sure its increased, Adam, but we haven’t asked Mark to check it out. It’s a good idea, thanks!”

“It might be over 200,” I said.

After we all played a full 18 holes, it was getting a bit dim. We didn’t play for anything, however Steven had a 59, while I shot a 75. I need to work out MORE!

Walking in the door everyone yelled, “Howitzer,” with Lil Kelly running to her brother and gave him the biggest kiss I had ever watched between them.

Kelly T, came over to us and we got each a nice kiss, and she said, “We need to have a meeting concerning our sponsors.”

“Why?” Cory questioned.

“Some of them wish to sponsor both of you, and some don’t,” The lovely KT said to us both.

We moved into the kitchen and Kelly began, “Since you are semi-diabetic, Steven should have:

Coca Cola, Nestles, Apple, and Red Robin.”

“Cory and you might be better suited for Vivant, Volkswagen, Hertz, and United Airlines.”

“Lastly, The Master’s Boys could be co-sponsored by Adidas, Nike, and Dicks Sporting Goods. The whole family could have a commercial or two from General Mills, while a possible new sponsor, Atkins, could work on any of you.”

“Doesn’t that contradict Nestles and Red Robin?” my lovely wife said.

“Not really,” KT replied. “None of you are fat, but you could, for $12,000,000 a year make a lot of commercials that would show during any tournaments you played in. When I say a lot, I only mean ten to twelve commercials in total.”

“You both play Titleist balls and Calloway clubs, and for $8,000,000 each, maybe another eight to ten commercials. Whether the Howitzer wins the Tour Championship, and/or the FedEx Championship, you could take the time after that to make all the commercials. How does that sound to you guys.?”

“I think it’s a great plan, KT,” my son said walking in the room with his sister and he is holding hands, “Kel and I are starving. Is there something here to eat, or is there a Red Robin we can go to?”

Fortunately, there was, and our group found it and walked in to a big, “MASTERS!”

We all sat down, with the on-site manager asking, “Hey, Howitzer, are you going to win the FedEx Tournament?”

“I would like to, but you can’t have everything,” he answered.

“Well said,” I quietly said to him.

I had Cory to my right, he had Kelly to his left. We ordered, the usual stuff, with Steven helping his sister when needed.

“How much longer before I can be your caddy, Big Brother?”

“Can you pick up my gold bag yet, and walk four miles and read all of my greens as well as Mom can?”

“Is that how long a golf course is?”

“Four miles is right at 7,000 yards and most all golf courses are at least that long. The course we have at home, is closer to 9,000 yards. But, don’t worry, you will be my caddy, whether it is in two, three, or four years. You need to be strong and smart.”

“Gosh, that seems so long to wait,” she said leaning on his shoulder with a french fry in her mouth. He got smart, found a long fry, and put it in his teeth, tapped her on the shoulder, and she smiled so big, dropping her fry and took a big bite, he followed with one that made their lips touch.

It lasted the perfect amount of time. Maybe ... they have learned how to be around people. A leisurely 45 minutes later, we headed on out, me carrying a big baggie of fries ... and my two kids were casually holding hands.

I missed having Dr John with us, but Doctors are busy people. He said he would DVR us and watch at night.

Steven and I got a text from the PGA telling us our start time and our two others we were playing with.

“KT, you are my caddy tomorrow. I knew they wouldn’t let us play together much longer. My companions are Marc Leishman and Justin Thomas. Who are you up against, Cannon?”

“Shane Lowry and Tiger,” I said. “Steven, why don’t you use Cory, and KT can help me. You do have a better chance at winning than I do.”

“Are you sure, Dad?”

We hooked up to watch the flyover on our hotels TV, (KT showed us how.)

Cory and Steven looked closely at the screen, while Julia had Kel and Jules under each arm.

It took only an hour for the ‘A’ team to get it done, then I yelled, “Bedtime!”

Our two-room suite had enough beds for KT and Jules, Mom and Kel, Cory and I, with Steven by himself.

I was first awake, and nudged Cory up, and found Kel in the same bed as her brother. Fortunately, they were facing different directions and he got up to pee.

I jostled my daughter awake, and after rubbing her eyes, she said, “I heard something that scared me, so I just found the nearest bed. I promise we didn’t do anything except sleep, Daddy.”