A sharp pain in my abdomen stopped me in my tracks on Amen Corner. A pain that I am all too familiar with. With each step I tried to take, it jolted through the rest of my body to the point of immobilizing me. A volunteer at Augusta National spotted my struggle and asked if I was OK. I was not. The kind man, with his warm, southern drawl \u2014\u00a0whose name I regret not getting \u2014\u00a0offered to seek assistance to get me off the course.<\/p>\n
This was Thursday of the 2025 Masters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Crohn\u2019s Disease, which has been a part of my life for the past 20 years, showed its ugly head at golf\u2019s most beautiful corner. I\u2019ve been poked, prodded and cut open enough times in my life to understand exactly what was happening last April. Tests in the following weeks confirmed what I already knew: I would have to go under the knife again \u2014\u00a0and the result of that procedure called for another several months later. Between surgeries, I was on a heavy drug regimen that required 10 to 12 hours of IV treatments daily.<\/p>\n One day, you\u2019re freely roaming Amen Corner, and the next, you feel like you\u2019re on house arrest with an IV pole playing the role of an ankle monitor. I was a prisoner in my own body for most of the last year.<\/p>\n \u201cGut It Out\u201d are words I\u2019ve learned to live by. Yes, there\u2019s a literal component to it after having guts literally ripped out of me on several occasions. Yes, I have Crohn\u2019s disease, but I refuse to let it have me. Whether I\u2019m feeling great or in the middle of a flare up, I attack everything with a \u201cgut it out\u201d mentality. I refuse the notion of not being able to get through whatever obstacle life puts in front of me, and last year\u2019s hellacious experience was no different.<\/p>\n I ARRIVED AT AUGUSTA THIS YEAR with last year\u2019s experience on my mind. In the lead up to the Masters, whenever I saw highlights of Rory McIlroy\u2019s 2025 victory, the first thought I had was a dark one. I was taken back to that day at Amen Corner, and to all the hard days and thoughts that followed.<\/p>\n But in the last two months, I\u2019ve felt more like myself than I did in all of 2025. I was looking forward to a healthy return to Amen Corner. Early on Tuesday morning, I did just that. I took a solo walk out to the exact location where things went awry for me. I stood there for a moment of stoic silence. I didn\u2019t want to talk to anyone or acknowledge the significance to anyone but myself. A quiet goal I set for myself was to get back to this spot in good health. A clear mind replaced those dark-clouded thoughts beneath blue skies.<\/p>\n A few days later, the Masters communication team put out a video that struck a chord with me. I watched it on repeat and let these words sink in:<\/p>\n \u201cIn a world that\u2019s louder than ever, there\u2019s power in a place of calm. I felt this to my core. The calm I found in the beauty of Amen Corner this year is something I won\u2019t forget. I left the week feeling different. I know how fast good days can turn to bad, but in that moment, that didn\u2019t matter. I reflected on those I love and how they supported me. After spending so much time feeling powerless, the morning sun beaming through those tall Georgia pines gave my body a solar-powered charge. I was present, and I maintained that present mentality every time I stepped foot on the course for the rest of the week.<\/p>\n The Masters is known for its rich history of traditions, but you won\u2019t find mine anywhere on their social feeds. As Tuesday was winding down, I took a stroll with Josh Berhow, GOLF\u2019s managing editor. We\u2019ve taken a \u201ccalm before the storm\u201d walk around Amen Corner with a drink in hand every year that we\u2019ve attended the Masters together.<\/p>\n What he doesn\u2019t know is how much that stroll took out of me last year, and how much it meant to do it again this year. But it\u2019s these rituals that feel like a return to normalcy for me.<\/p>\n I knew what Amen Corner meant to me this year, and by being present the rest of the week, I was able to soak it in \u2014\u00a0better than I ever have before \u2014\u00a0and even see how much it meant to those around me. On Wednesday, I chatted with a Chinese couple and their 8-year-old boy, who was anxiously waiting for a glimpse of Haotong Li. They were thrilled to see him at Augusta. I walked the 13th with a pair of lifelong friends from the English countryside, who were there to cheer on Justin Rose. And after I finished a Friday morning sweet tea on the 11th fairway, I offered my empty cup to a woman who added them to her stack, which her nearby grandson was taking back to his fraternity house next week. (Grandma gave him an old bacon-collared Masters polo from his grandfather to wear, and he happily obliged.)<\/p>\n
Beautiful moments that don\u2019t last forever.
We all leave this week feeling different.
Lighter. Closer to those we love.
Feeling empowered to feel this way as long as we can.
That\u2019s the power of being present.\u201d<\/p>\n