Texas Children’s Houston Open
Simone de Beauvoir is often credited with defining true peace as the absence of a desire to be understood, admired, pitied, or even known. In her work ‘The Ethics of Ambiguity’ she suggested that the ‘ambiguity’ in the human condition is that we are both subject and object - free and factity, whereby we are both free and not free at the same time. The contradiction comes from her observation that in essence, we are self-aware and therefore free to make our own choices. But we are also an object in space to other people, which constrains our free will by imposing social, political and ethical expectations upon us. In her world, it could be said that there is no ‘good’ or ‘evil’ - those things cannot exist without societal norms, perpetuated by individual choices.
Choices. In the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, we always have a choice. Not choosing is a choice. It is only when years advance and wisdom grows that one realises that sport is the same; you have a choice how you respond to moments within the game, a choice how to view things, it is up to you if you allow the pressures to crush you. If you are crushed by the pressure, you chose it. So when Gary Woodland chose to share his struggles with PTSD during a television interview, visibly emotional and describing the way his recent brain surgery had affected him, that was a conscious choice to move forward. In contrast to de Beauvoir’s assertion, Gary Woodland cared about being understood - he wanted it to make sense. Peace came in the aftermath, as the weight of his burden was lifted he performed with more freedom.
Societal norms can sometimes tell us that admitting fear is a weakness. Some kind of primal instinct in men, particularly, prevents them from doing this. Predator and prey. But we have a choice to view this differently. Woodland’s admission could equally be viewed as immensely strong, an act to rid himself of something that was weighing him down and holding him back. What we saw this week was a man who understands that mental performance is not the absence of fear, intimidation or pressure, but the often long process of recognising those things for what they are and having a strategy to deal with them.
As ever with golf tournaments, the toughest test is the final round. Woodland took a one shot lead into Sunday, with a young and hungry Nicolai Hojgaard snapping at his heels. It was the battle of the massive hitters, with both players taking ball speed into ridiculous realms and reminding us that another societal norm is regularly dispelled in golf - that a physical advantage rests with those in their twenties and early thirties. At 41, Woodland reached 196mph, an eye-popping number which delighted his supporters and irked the traditionalists, two things that create excellent conversation. It was a battle until the 5th hole where Hojgaard made a double bogey and Woodland pulled away. His lead became seven shots at one point, and he was clearly hovering somewhere in the psychological ‘flow zone’ where thought was not clouding his mind.
Hojgaard finished with a 71 in the end, dropping into second place but cementing his spot at the Masters by virtue of his 11-place leap in the world rankings. Positives for him, but more so for his playing partner. Woodland cruised to a smooth 67 and a five shot win, with the emotion pouring out of him as the last putt dropped. This, in itself, showed what it took for him to mentally perform on Sunday. Although he had lightened his burden, he is still fighting a battle. Unfortunately, Simone de Beauvoir's allusion to true peace does not fit into the practicalities of real life; Woodland is married with children, meaning that he obviously wants to be known. Perhaps he doesn’t want to be pitied, but he might want to be admired and he definitely wants to be understood, as evidenced in his post-round interview:
“We play an individual sport out here, but I wasn't alone today. Anyone struggling with something, I hope they see me and don't give up. Just keep fighting.”
And fight he did. There will be more losses, but this one was a win. To return to the Ethics of Ambiguity, the ‘free’ in him chose to disclose his burden and fight. The ‘factity’ meant that his family was there to see it. Makes me wonder, who really wants true peace by de Beauvoir’s terms? To Gary Woodland, that would mean no family, fans, trophy, or celebration. Doesn’t sound much like peace at all.
