Successful People Can Finish

By Jim Whelan, The Joan Randall Agency

Monday, July 23, 2007

I spent a few hours this weekend watching theBritish Open. I don't play golf, but I like watchingit, particularly the last few holes of a tournament.

This is the moneyball day, when all the pretendersget flushed out, and the real men stalk the course.

Sergio Garcia lead the tourney from opening day.

Nobody talked about Padraig Harrington in anydiscussion that I heard for the first three days.That's in spite of the fact that Harrington has wonthirteen tournaments, eleven in Europe, and twoin the US of A. He had never won a major, butthirteen wins means he plays pretty fair golf. Icould be wrong here, but I don't think Sergio hasthirteen wins. He may, but I don't remember himwinning that many.

So today, the real jousting began, and some guysmade an attempt to win, and fell short. The tourneywas Garcia's to win, but he blew it on eighteen, allowingHarrington back in the game. If there is one thing I'velearned about competitors, it's that you never give thema second chance at the apple.

So Garcia lost, because he couldn't finish.

Nobody cares that he led the first three rounds, andmost of the fourth. His name is not going on the trophy,and although he gets a nice check, nobody will callhim "Champ," nobody we will refer to him as a pastchampion, and in a year or two no one will even rememberthat he was in the playoff.

All because he couldn't finish.

If he would have won and lead from wire to wire, his namewould be up in lights, he would be the toast of Europe, anda big deal in the states. He wouldn't be King here, becausehe have to pry the club out of Tiger's hands, and he isn'tletting go. But he would get a lot more air time.

But he didn't finish.

In business it's the same way.

It ain't a done deal till the mundo is in the bank.

That's when a deal is done, and not before.

Talk is cheap. Anybody can do that.

But finishers are King.

From the big saddle,
Jim Whelan