The Power of Persistence

The Power of Persistence

What we can learn from the 2021 PGA Champion

The dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom at Augusta National  in April of 2004 when my husband and I sat mesmerized in front of our TV as the final team approached the 18th hole on the last day of the Master’s Golf Tournament. 

Phil Mickelson was playing in his 43rd tournament as a pro golfer. He had never won a national title. He had come close but could not close the deal. As he and his playing partner walked down the fairway to the green, once again Phil was close. An 18-foot putt stood between him and a green jacket. A two putt would force a play off. A three putt would lose it. He had to sink this one to win.

Mickelson has always been popular with the fans and the press. He acknowledges and interacts with them and they, in turn, respond. But it gets frustrating if, after 43 tries, you just can’t do it. The fans really want it for him and this is his chance.

Phil approaches the ball. His playing parter had just putted, giving him a good read on the ball. He seems completely relaxed. The crowd is appropriately silent. He looks at the hole, then the ball then the hole, then the ball. Back goes the club. Click. The ball rolls slowly, slowly toward the hole. It clutches the left side of the cup and, somehow, falls in.

Pandemonium breaks out. Mickelson jumps up, both arms high above his head. The fans behind him follow suit, raising their arms in joyful celebration of their champion’s victory. The whole thing looks like a Pentecostal prayer meeting with Pastor Phil leading the flock.

As Phil dons the green jacket and is interviewed by the press, they ask him how it feels to go ten years without winning a major tournament. “It gets frustrating, and it can wear on you,” Phil says, “except you just can’t let it. With all of the hours of hard work and direction, I knew or did not ever lack belief that I would ultimately win.”

Delayed victory had to be so much sweeter for Phil. What if he had quit after 43 tournaments? He could have. He could have made a good living as a golf pro at a prestigious club somewhere or coached golf at a major university or started a golf shop selling clubs and athletic wear. But he didn’t. He kept on keeping on and won the 2004 Master’s Golf Tournament.

Fast forward to May 23, 2021. Seventeen years later Phil is 50. He has won five major tournaments, but was now considered by many as too old to compete with the millennials. He hadn’t won a major tournament since 2013, and friends thought he simply wasn’t up to it. Phil thought otherwise and doubled down on his training, diet, and focus. 

Once again, my husband and I watched from our family room as Phil and Brooks Koepka, the last pairing to tee off, came down the fairway on the 18th hole on the final day of the 2021 PGA Golf Tournament. There had been plenty of drama up to this point. Phil hit one ball into the water, another on the bunker. Birdies, bogeys, missed putts. Could Phil actually pull this off? Could he keep his composure and finish this tournament with a two stroke lead? The crowd was closing in around him and chanting his name, making it hard for him to keep his focus. They wanted to believe he could win, and yet anything could happen. All of Phil’s experience, training, and knowledge came together as he two-putted for par on 18, topping his two closest competitors by two strokes.

Bedlam broke out! A new golf record. Phil had just become the oldest player to win a major golf tournament. Jack Nicklaus won his final major tournament at age 46; Julius Boros at age 48. Because he didn’t quit, Phil will go down in the history books of golf. 

Some will say, “No big deal. He lucked out. It’s a fluke.” Well, what if it is? He wouldn’t have won if he had quit. Once again, 17 years after his Masters’ win, Phil’s persistence handed him his sixth major victory. As he held the Wanamaker Trophy high with a big grin, he credited his wife, Amy, for her love and continuing support, his brother, Tim, who caddied for him, and his golf swing coach.

How many succeed simply because of their persistence?  Jesus taught us to pray and not lose heart by telling a story about a persistent widow who demanded justice from an unjust judge. She got what she wanted because she didn’t quit. The judge gave in to get rid of her.  

We’re all tempted to quit from time to time. Big goals require hard work, faith, and hanging in there, but as Phil Mickelson can tell us, the victory is worth the price. John Greenleaf Whittier said it this way: 

Success is failure turned inside out

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell just how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.