Travis Johnson had beaten down the door all spring.
He watched each of his golfing teammates walk to the
winner’s circle and collect their trophies, every time
wondering when his time would come.
The thought of becoming an individual champion consumed him.
Whenever he walked down the final hole of a tournament that he
had an opportunity to win, he was a shell of his true self.
Then, on an April afternoon, those thoughts suddenly
disappeared.
Johnson received the grim news that 9-year-old Jahleel Brown, a
young man with whom the senior golfer had formed a relationship
over the past two years, had succumbed to cancer.
“I took it as if a family member had passed,”
Johnson said. “I adored Jahleel (Brown) for his courage and
his strength and how he handled what he was going through. I am
related to him by golf. That’s what brought us
together.”
The two met in 2002 at Ironwood Country Club in Orange County at
a Johnson Junior Tour Event, a charity golf program run by
Johnson’s father, Russ.
It was there Johnson first taught Brown about golf, teaching him
the intricacies of the swing while simultaneously laying the
foundation from which their relationship would evolve.
After finding out Brown had been diagnosed with cancer, Johnson
made frequent trips to the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA
to visit his new friend, trying in any way he could to lift the
boy’s spirits.
Whether it was bringing him a hat from the Masters or simply
showing up to talk sports, Johnson knew how much Brown valued their
time together.
And despite his frail appearance, Brown always remained upbeat,
squeezing every ounce he could out of life.
“Whenever I came in, there was always a smile on his face
and he wanted to talk golf,” Johnson said. “I just
tried to get his mind off of what was going on.”
A few days before the women’s Pac-10 Championships,
Johnson received the devastating phone call.
There was no way, Johnson thought, that a child’s life
could be taken away so swiftly.
On the car ride to Saticoy Country Club in Ventura to support
the women’s golf team, Johnson couldn’t stop crying,
still trying to understand what had happened.
“It was hard for me to handle,” Johnson said.
“I felt terribly for the family. In hindsight, Jahleel was
suffering, and now I guess he’s not suffering.”
What Johnson didn’t realize was that as much as he was
teaching Brown about the game of golf in their short time together,
Brown was teaching him more valuable lessons about life.
The thought of winning, which occupied itself in the forefront
of Johnson’s mind for most of the spring, had suddenly turned
into a mere afterthought.
“I put all of those thoughts and worries behind me,
because in essence, they’re not that important,”
Johnson said.
“People will remember you for who you are and how you
lived your life, not if you win or not.”
With a full postseason slate of tournaments still awaiting him,
Johnson was asked to lead the No. 5 Bruins to the championship,
albeit with a heavy heart.
On the course, Johnson was a new man. No longer consumed with
all the hoopla surrounding collegiate events, Johnson took a step
back, and with a new perspective, played the best golf of his
college career.
“It freed me up,” Johnson said. “It let me be
the person I was.”
At the NCAA West Regional, Johnson finally put a complete
tournament together and claimed his long sought after individual
championship.
To remember Brown, Johnson wrote the initials JB on each side of
his golf ball, a practice he plans on continuing wherever his
golfing career may take him.
“Whenever I was out there lining up a putt, I would be
reminded of Jahleel and what an amazing kid he was,” Johnson
said. “Just realize how much he would give to be in my
position.”
He had won his tournament.
He had lost his friend.