"Take therefore no thought of the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day are the evils thereof." (Matthew 6:34, KJV)

"I never peeked at the scoreboard until the seventeenth hole," Zach Johnson said at the press conference following his stunning victory at Augusta National on Easter. "You may not know where Tiger is, but you can feel him."

Tiger had been perfect: 12 straight wins after taking the lead in a major. He seized that lead on the fifth hole of what he called "the most difficult Masters I've ever played in" (due to gusty winds, hard, quick-greens and wintry conditions). The whole golfing world thought Tiger was destined to win his third consecutive major.

Except, at least, one man. A small 160-pound man, 31 years old—the same age as Tiger, who he was compared with Sunday afternoon. "It might be misleading to compare me to Tiger," Johnson said with unfeigned modesty. "My career is pretty much where I want it to be. I've reached the point where I thought I was good enough to take home a Masters."

He took it home at the water holes. After solid pars on eleven and twelve, he anchored his mind to what he'd been doing all week.

Laying up on thirteen when a 3-iron would reach the green, he staked his wedge, made birdie, then followed that with an almost perfect second shot at fourteen for another birdie. He holed a great par-save at fifteen and a clutch putt for birdie at sixteen. Three under in four holes.

People at the clubhouse a mile away heard the crowd roar when Tiger, just behind him, mounted his charge with an eagle at 13.

Johnson ignored it.

He had work to do. He put his blinders on and locked his brain to one thing: That which was right in front of him. In the end, little David took down the mighty Goliath.

Thank you, Zach.

You helped us remember: Don't throw away your dream. Dance with who brought you; play to your strengths. Forget three-putting from three feet and bogeying the next two holes. Each day has enough problems. Don't beat on yourself. Ignore the giants. Ignore all distractions. Focus on what you have some control over.

Just one step at a time. Work the plan. Process. Execution. Forget the end. It will take care of itself.

 Sometimes a dream comes true.

You averaged 265 off the tee. Not bad. But 57^th. Twenty-five behind Tiger, forty behind Phil. "Not long enough to win the Masters."

You took three shots to reach all 16 par-5s. But you played them 11-under, better than all others.

You prepared well. You trained yourself mechanically, emotionally and mentally for many years for that final round, and now you're reaping the rewards.

We know one of your Secrets. You told us. CBS telecaster Bill Macatee put a mike to your lips when you came out of the scorer's tent Sunday. You had just seen Tiger fail to hole his second shot on eighteen and it dawned on you that you'd won the Masters. You couldn't contain yourself. Called it "surreal." But something more:

"Being Easter my faith is very important to me," you said tearfully. "I had a lot of support… Jesus was with me every step of the way… It was awesome."

It was.

Every step.

--

Jim Hiskey

April 19, 2007

Copyright 2007 Links Players International

The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.