Down...but not out

let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. -- Heb. 12:2, NLT

It was one of those sports moments that seemed more like a movie script than live television. And yet it really happened – right before our eyes on national television this weekend.

Golf pro Chris Couch barely made the cut on Friday at the Zurich Classic golf tournament in New Orleans. And then he shocked everyone when he shot to the top of the leader board by the end of the day on Saturday.

Here was a guy who had played on the PGA tour circuit only two and a half years. Was ranked 368th in the Official World Ranking. He’d been in 65 previous PGA tournaments…and never won. His total career earnings were a bit over $300,000. At one time he was broke after missing four cuts in the Nationwide Tour.

Then along came Sunday and he was leading the tournament, ahead of recent Masters winner Phil Mickelson and Stuart Appleby, who had won two tournaments in a row coming into New Orleans.

Yet Chris Couch held steady for 16 holes, getting several birdies. His playing partner, Charles Howell III, who was nipping at Chris’s heels in the final round, noticed how calm Chris was.

As my wife and I watched the final few holes, and saw what happened at the 17th hole, w feared that Chris Couch would finally buckle under the pressure. He hit in the sand trap and then chipped his ball 12 feet from the hole. Chris had a long putt just to get bogey. But he held steady and holed the putt. Now he was only one stroke ahead of Charles Howell going into the final hole of the tournament.

At the 18th hole, Couch hit his second shot wide right. Once more he found himself in the bunker, with a very awkward shot to hit. I’m sure everyone watching was thinking what I was thinking – the pressure finally had gotten to this man who had never won on the PGA tour. With millions watching him on T.V., Couch dug his ball out of the sand trap but landed only on the other side of the bunker. He now faced a long chip shot and putt just to stay in the playoffs.

Then it happened. Couch chipped a remarkable shot and the ball rolled and rolled. I knew it would get close to the hole. Yet amazingly in went in. And Chris Couch won his first PGA tournament – with incredible guts in the final two holes.

I love stories like this where people don’t give up. It’s so easy to throw in the towel when things go sour, isn’t it? Our marriage becomes stale. Children start to rebel. Financial problems seem to be relentless. And we wonder whether things will ever get better.

Haven’t you noticed how negative thinking gnaws away at us when we meet adversity? It is such a mental battle to keep going when we’re up against tough times.

Whatever trial or challenge you’re facing right now, I pray that the Lord will give you an extra measure of perseverance. May the Holy Spirit fill you to overflowing so that you will, in the words of Winston Churchill (when leading Britain during its darkest hour of World War II), say “never, never never give up!”

Jim