P haynie

Been thinking about Max and the week he's having. Max is relatable because his career has had a crazy arc. He's gone from not even being able to keep his card to being a top 15 player in the wold and a Ryder Cup star in six years. That's a fun and interesting narrative. But he's likable because he's vulnerable. Combine those two realities (dug-out-of-the-dirt success + vulnerability), and you have somebody who is extremely easy to root for. There is a strange and perhaps silly thing that Max does that has always stood out to me. When he goes on the NLU pod, he always ends it by saying, "Love you guys." It is a thing that maybe a lot of us say to our friends, but most of us don't talk to our friends in front of thousands and thousands of people. It's not a big thing, but it's a sign of his willingness to be vulnerable at any and all times. Being vulnerable (in other words, truly caring) as a professional golfer means getting your heart shredded over and over again. If he wins today, he will weep. If he loses today, it will hit him at some point later on and he will also weep. I find it endearing when people care that much about their craft, their work, the moment that they're in. His quote. The one from Saturday. "If I catch myself thinking about what could go wrong, I let myself dream about what could go right." Dreamers are easy to root for, especially when they have fashioned success from tremendous failure. Especially when they share what they have learned along the way. Especially when they're willing to give you their heart because they truly don't know any other way to live.