The Now Sound

Tiger Woods revealed recently he has been playing for at least 10 months with a torn ligament in his left knee, and that he suffered a double stress fracture in his left leg two weeks before the U.S. Open. PGA Professional Paul Casey provided the most graphic description of the injury, based on a conversation he had had with the caddie of Robert Karlsson, the Swede who played alongside Woods in the third round. “He [Gareth Lord] said there were actually noises coming from Tiger's knee,” Casey said. “Clearly he was suffering. There was a moment where Tiger, I think at the 18th, stepped up to hit his tee-shot and backed off because of weird noises. They all chuckled and he said, 'I shouldn't hit this one too hard.' He got it in play and made eagle.

It is interesting to consider Tiger's performance in the context of the Now. In my book, "Peace and Par - Enjoying Golf in the Now," I maintain there is no one who stays in the present, in the zone, better than Tiger. Many of us have played athletics with pain. I remember basketball games with a sprained ankle, and baseball games with a sore arm. I never had the illusion that these injuries did not effect my performance. I remember consciously favoring the injury as I naturally anticipated the pain. Tiger on the other hand goes to his own Being, the energy within him and stays in the moment. Tiger addressed the ball, took his normal, full backswing, transferred his weight, tourqued his knee and created

club speed that would tear your socks off if you stood too close, and finished with his classic follow through all in the Now. Even though somewhere in his long and short term memory bank there existed the knowledge: "the pain is coming", Tiger did not hold the thought of this future pain. Tiger stayed in the Now shot after shot for five days. When the pain came at the end of the shot, Tiger endured it knowing all pain is going out. He then stood straight, handed his club to Steve and walked down the fairway completely focused on the task at hand, winning the US Open.

The ego and its partner, the pain body loves to anticipate the future and the potential for pain. The upcoming dentist appointment, visiting a critically ill friend or relative, or the golf match or lunch with the person who never shuts up. We miss so many breaths, so much of life in this moment because we embrace that future pain. Take a lesson in life from Tiger. The pain, like the future is an illusion. We only live in a series of "right nows".