By The Masters (http://www.themasters.com/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The 2018 Masters tournament marks the 50th anniversary of the one of the most historic endings to the iconic tournament. Roberto De Vincenzo tied Bob Goalby after 72 holes at 11 under. But De Vincenzo signed an incorrect scorecard. He actually signed for a higher score than he shot which put him back into second place. It made for one of the most awkward and sad endings to any sporting event. It seems like such a brutal penalty for a small mistake. What happened was his playing partner had incorrectly written a 4 (par) on the 17th hole, when he in fact made a birdie. He did not check his scores, but simply signed and submitted his card as official.
His shot at winning one of the biggest tournaments of his career and certainly a life-long goal gone because of an act of carelessness. But there is more to this story than one act of carelessness. In reading a recent interview of Bob Goalby, I learned his mistake came because of a habit of carelessness. For example, Bob himself played with Roberto De Vincenzo on Saturday of the Masters tournament and he failed to check his scorecard then and simply signed it. Bob got it correct, so there were no problems. It was his way! He was a regular PGA Tour pro playing numerous tournaments every year and he got comfortable with just glancing over his card and turning it in as official. In another story, that has only recently been told, Roberto won a tournament in Houston three weeks after the Masters. He failed to sign his card which results in an automatic disqualification. The tournament director, considering the national news and mess that would occur if he had another scorecard incident, broke protocol and went and found him to sign the card.
This is a fascinating golf history story that still gets brought up regularly about losing the Masters by signing an incorrect scorecard. But I think there is a real lesson in the story for us. The mistake didn’t just happen, it happened because of a history of habitual carelessness. It happened because he got in a habit of being careless with something that was really important. It ended up costing him at the worst of times.
We must avoid a habit of carelessness in our personal lives with things that are important. We must not develop careless habits with our spiritual lives, our marriages, or our finances. Carelessness will often allow for us to slide by occasionally, but it will eventually catch up to us and cost us greatly! If we are careless we may identify with De Vincenzo in his famous quote after the ’68 Masters “What a stupid I am!”
“He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of his ways will die.” (Proverbs 19:16 NKJV)
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Golf Digest article on Bob Goalby – https://www.golfdigest.com/story/bob-goalby-finding-peace-50-years-later
