The Champions’ spiritual caddy

Deirdre Newman

During the competition, the golfers at the Toshiba Senior Classic may

pray for a birdie.

But if they need spiritual guidance, they’ll turn to Tom Randall.

Randall is the chaplain for the PGA Champions Tour, which swept

into Newport Beach on Monday.

Randall will lead a nondenominational Christian fellowship on

Friday evening for the players and their families. He is also

available during the week for private sessions to help the players

deal with the emotions competition evoke, like anger, and to

encourage patience and self-control.

“I think it’s good for them to have somebody they can trust and go

to if there’s a question about their faith or spiritual questions,

and there’s a lot of them,” Randall said. “Sometimes, guys like to

talk to somebody about something going on in their private life that

they don’t want people or the newspaper to know about.”

Randall knows more about lay-ups and three-point shots than he

does about nine-irons and bunker shots. He played basketball overseas

for 20 years, logging about 2,000 games.

He was invited to come out for the tour by Larry Nelson four years

ago when other religious leaders were not available.

During the fellowship, Randall will ask the golfers how they’re

doing spiritually and if anyone has anything special they want the

rest of the group to pray for. Then he will deliver an inspirational

message on a sports-related topic.

For some, it’s a chance to do something they never get to do on

Sundays.

“They always play on Sunday, so many [golfers] haven’t gone to

church for 30 years,” Randall said. “It’s something we try to make

convenient for them, and they’re getting fed spiritually.”

In the time that Randall has been accompanying players on the

tour, he has overseen five weddings of players or their relatives. He

also gets invited to speak at a lot of the players’ home churches and

Bible study groups.

Nelson said he’s grateful to have a spiritual caddy of a sort to

help him and the other players explore their relationship with Christ

and work through any issues that could be a distraction from the

competition.

“He’s helped a lot of people with their peace of mind and

answering spiritual questions and relationship questions and, I think

in that regard, he’s done a great job,” Nelson said.