It's never quite as easy as it seems.

Taking that swing from the range to the course. Focusing on every shot. Blocking out the distractions. Taking dead aim on those 18 holes and nothing else.

Even the best struggle. And when they do? We're quick to dissect the swing because it has to be something technical right? Or the caddie, a convenient place to lay the blame. Or the team around the player. Not enough time in the fitness van? Sometimes players just need a change in coaches, right?

But more often than not it has little to do with what immediately grabs our attention.

Think about it. What distracts you? What breaks your concentration -- anytime, not just on an incredibly stressful day? What makes you snap at someone when you usually just let it roll off your back?

Life, right? Something at home. Something medical. Something that makes you snap at people when you normally wouldn't. Something that impacts you or your family at the core.

We expect the best to press through. To put it in a neat little package and push it to the side to deal with, well, when they get around to it. To put on the face we want to see and tell us what we want to hear. To not let anything shake them or their confidence. They've got to be tougher than tough, right?

Wrong.

Why bring this up now? Rory Sabbatini's recent revelations about his own skin cancer surgery and wife Amy's difficulties after delivering son Bodhi last fall. All of it hit them within 10 days. All of it tough stuff. And, yes, Sabbo's golf took a hit.

The Sabbatini's story is just the latest reminder that the people who play games are just like us. They get hit, they get knocked down, they fight to get back up. They fight through the tough stuff, keeping it to themselves while we take guesses on what's wrong.

Think back to last summer when everyone knew Phil Mickelson was dealing with wife Amy and his mother Mary's breast cancer battles. They were among the millions of families dealing with that on a daily basis. What we didn't know? What was impacting his game more than anything else? He was battling psoriatic arthritis and, yes, it was impacting his game.

Mickelson's Masters win last spring was one of those moments which makes you appreciate all the struggles. The same goes for Curtis Strange's 1989 U.S. Open, which came just a few months after his wife Sarah underwent the first of two breast cancer surgeries.

Double-heart transplant Erik Compton celebrates every day he has on the course. The same for Paul Azinger, who battled cancer at the height of his career.

Life doesn't ask you if this is a good time. If you mind having your world turned upside down by cancer or a death in the family or a bad breakup. Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia both struggled after breakups with longtime girlfriends.

Silly? Not really. Think about it. You lose the one person you've counted on day to day for years and ... not easy is it?

We understand the loss of a spouse. Stuart Appleby was devastated after the tragic death of his first wife Renay in front of Waterloo Station in 1998, and it took him years to bounce back.

Golf, period, took a hit a year later when Payne Stewart was killed in a plane crash on his way to the 1999 THE TOUR Championship. Players -- and not just his close friends -- had trouble concentrating that week. Chris Smith lost his wife in a tragic car accident and spent a year dealing with his childrens' recovery from the same accident before playing again. Paul Goydos and Fred Couples have dealt with the deaths of their former wives and that impact, not only on themselves, but also the children.

And who can forget Darren Clarke's emotional 2006 Ryder Cup performance just a month after losing his wife to breast cancer?

Just three years after he turned pro and a year after his first win, Davis Love III lost his father in a plane crash. Bubba Watson played through his father's battle with cancer. The only time we've seen Tiger Woods cry is when he won the 2006 British Open after losing his father to a long illness.

Ben Crenshaw won the 1995 Masters after losing long-time instructor Harvey Penick and Lucas Glover struggled after losing instructor Dick Harmon in 2006, but eventually won the 2009 U.S. Open.

Tiger struggled through his worst season ever in 2010 because of personal issues and he's still working through it. The swing will be the easy part. The rest will take more time. And John Daly ? He's spent a career overcoming his missteps.

Others have struggled financially or lost family or homes or close friends. Or simply worry about a child's broken arm or soccer game or grades half the world away.

The bottom line here? You take life with you. To the office. To the course. To the court. To the field.

Golfers are not immune. They have 18 holes to think about life and, say, 68 shots to take their minds off everything but that one swing. Sometimes they can, other times, they struggle. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for week or a month. Or a long slump.

Every player out there has a story. Something they've struggled with, something they carry with them every day to inspire them and push them. And yes, those things can creep into their swings or putting strokes. They can take a toll on their tempers and their scorecards. Tax brackets don't help. Neither, at times, can those teams surrounding them.

Like everyone else, they just manage. They juggle life and a career, they face the same things we face. Sometimes there's an easy fix. Sometimes there's not.

So the next time you're tempting to point to a coach or a swing or a flash of temper, take a minute. Think about it. It might not be that simple.

It might just be life.