pga preview 2019 | gd 89a friend of mine from Boston
recently sent me a picture of
his teenage son holding up a
sign that read, “16 years old,
10 parades,” referencing how
many times he’d been to cel-
ebrations for the Patriots and
Red Sox. I thought, This kid
doesn’t know pain. Neither of
those teams won champion-
ships my entire childhood.
I came out of that experience
tending to pull for the under-
dog not just in sports, but in
business and life. One of the
coolest things about the PGA
Championship—and I had this
opinion long before I became
CEO—is following the PGA
members in the field. Watching
them is irresistible because it’s
serious stuff, something they
aren’t accustomed to doing
every week. They go from being
stars at their clubs and state
events to arguably the biggest
underdogs in pro sports on one
of the biggest stages. Cool stuff.
● ●●
a month after the September 11
attacks, I took my son, Clancy,
to Yankee Stadium for Game 5
of the World Series against the
Diamondbacks. It was emotion-
al for me in so many ways.
I was a longtime New Yorker
with Deutsche Bank Americas
and knew hundreds of people
who were in the towers. I lost
two of my absolute closest
friends. It was a time of soul-
wrenching sadness and trauma,
but also heroic acts. Clancy
was 7 then, and he knew only
the Yankees. They hit a two-
run homer in the bottom of
the ninth to tie things up and
then won it in extra innings.
An incredible moment to share
with your son. But the real story
came the next year on opening
day. Clancy and I were watching
“SportsCenter” going through
the scores when he turned to
me and said, “Dad, I don’t think
I want to be a Yankees fan any-
more.” I said, “Why’s that?”
He said, “They’re just too
good.” I tousled his hair and
said, “Welcome to my world.”
● ●●
when i was about 10, I got
my hands on a little transistor
radio. From our home in New
Jersey, I could pick up BostonCeltics broadcasts if I oriented
the radio just right. My favorite
player was John Havlicek, who
wasn’t particularly flashy but
invaluable in all kinds of ways.
He was the consummate team
player. Much later I was fortu-
nate to play golf with John,
and he was the type who looked
harder for your lost ball than
he did his own. In business,
I came to value people who were
like John. Those who make
everyone around them better.
The lone-wolf star types can
be highly productive individu-
ally, but their selfishness can be
disruptive in ways that diminish
the team, not make it better. As
an executive, I’ve always tried
hard to weed out those types
and reward those who put the
team first. I’ve always believed
that life is a team sport.
● ●●
in business and certainly
the people I choose to hang out
with on the golf course, I abide
by the NJA Rule: No Jerks
Allowed. It’s my golden rule.
Jerks come in a lot of forms but
are generally easy to spot. It
usually takes about three holes
in golf and life. They’re sort of
the anti-Havlicek—they don’t
look for your ball or compli-
ment your good shots because
usually they haven’t actually
watched you take a swing all
day. It’s all about them. Too
often, they’re caddie haters as
well. No fun. It’s even worseif it happens to be a player
who’s treated deferentially, not
because he’s a great guy but
because he’s a good golfer. It’s
not OK to be a jerk, no matter
how you play. They might be in-
vited to a lot of member-guests
by people who are trying to
“buy the tournament,” which
is kind of a jerk move, too. It’s
much more important to have
your phone ring a lot because of
what you’re like to be around,
and not how you play. Every
day in golf is another opportu-
nity to make a new friend, to
learn something about yourself
and whomever you’re with.
● ●●
my favorite type of golf
is the simple two-on-two stuff
you see in every foursome.
But two or three times a year,
I’ll tee it up individually, in
tournaments—the club cham-
pionship at Seminole, the
singles events at National, or
in the past, the Travis at Garden
City. I like to feel on occasion
that uncomfortable sensation
that comes when you have to
post a number, no Equitable
Stroke Control, no excuses and
nowhere to hide. It’s a little
scary, given my day job and
a Handicap Index of 8.6, and
there’s always the possibility
I could go completely off the
rails toward Humiliation Sta-
tion. But I like it. My friend
Vinny Giles said it best: “Golf ’s
a lot different when you’ve got
a pencil in your hand.”
● ●●
vinny would know, because
he won the U.S. Amateur and
British Amateur titles in the
1970s. He’s 76 now and is one
of those guys to whom age is
just a number. His knowledge
of what’s going on at every golf
organization, the scuttlebutt
and inner workings of the
game, is staggering. On the
course he’ll just work you to
death, and he practices so hard‘Some theas a wholeis.’ buy it.’‘In and
certainly the
I choose to
with on the,I abide by the
’
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says players should,
not where it’s been,and that applies to