Thursday, November 20, 2008

Uneventful Week

That’s a good thing in the cancer world. No tests. No scans. No chemo. Just a normal week of trying to catch up on sleep and work! Sorry I don’t have any exciting news to report.

However, I would like to mention the story about golfer, JP Hayes. For those of you that didn’t catch the news story this week, JP Hayes was playing in the end of the year PGA Tour qualifying tournament. During the middle of his round, he pulled out a new ball from his bag. After finishing the hole with the new ball, he realized the ball he was playing was not the same model with which he started the round -- by rule, a two-stroke penalty.

"I realized there was a penalty and I called an official over," Hayes said, according to the newspaper. "He said the penalty was two shots and that I had to finish the hole with that ball and then change back to the original ball." However, two days later in his hotel room, Hayes realized that the errant golf ball might not have been on the approved list.

"It was a Titleist prototype, and somehow it had gotten into my bag," he said, according to the Journal Sentinel. "It had been four weeks since Titleist gave me some prototype balls and I tested them. I have no idea how or why it was still in there."

Hayes had a choice: He could have said nothing and kept playing, with no one aware of his mistake. Or he could turn himself in and let his mistake cost him a spot on the 2009 PGA Tour. He chose the latter.

One word...integrity.

I'd like to say that I would have done the same thing, but you never know until you are in that situation. I think it was John Wooden who said, "The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching." JP Hayes is obviously a man of high character who values being able to look at himself in the mirror more than getting ahead. If who want to know who the heroes are in this world look no further. While some say their heroes are people battling this diesease or overcoming some of life's challenges, I'd like to say that for today JP Hayes is my hero. I’ll be rooting for him in the few events he’ll be allowed to play in due to sponsors’ exemptions. Golf - there is no other sport like it.

Finally, happy birthday Joe and Mrs. Rodgers!

2 comments:

Wendy S. Harpham, MD said...

Hi,

Thanks for your great blog.
Your post today reminds me of my June 17 blog post, entitled "The New York Times Test."

I invite you to visit my blog on Healthy Survivorship through which I share information and insights from my perspective as a physician and 18 yr survivor. In addition to patients and caregivers, nurses and physicians subscribe to and post comments on my blog, so it's an interesting conversation.
With hope,
Wendy
www.wendyharpham.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

Dan, I have no doubt you would have done the same thing - you live with a high level of integrity every day - it is a part of your fiber!

LH