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first time in a long time that Napoli felt the adrenaline of shooting low

and maintaining his concentration, however, he was tired after the 8

rounds – and the time on the course was intensifying the toll on the
hip. The National Championship was three months away and he was

not toying with the idea of winning but playing to not embarrass

himself.

A week before the National Championship, Napoli started to frequent

the Orange Lake course to meet up with other players to practice.

However, to help him prepare
for the competitive stress,

Napoli would play matches with
monetary incentives. Having a

bit of money on the line tends to

increase the potential of
improvement when practicing.

He noticed that he was holding

his own in the monetary matches – and consistently beating the best
players on tour. Napoli’s perspective of his chances to win the National

Championship was slowly changing. This was reinforced during his
match-play competition for the Skins Tournament being held during the

same week. Napoli was in a semi-final match with Greg Ward and the

two played down to the final hole. Ward aced to win the match, but
eventually what Napoli gained holding his own against the best was

worth more than the win.

As the National Championship week started, in the Atlantic Ocean was
a class 4 hurricane by the name of Floyd. Its predicted path was the

center of Florida – the same location as the Orange Lake course – and
the National Championship. On Sept 16, the National Championship

started with the hurricane continuing to maintain its course. Napoli

opened the championship with an impressive 25. He was tied for first –