Lyle's Leukemia Returns
/Terrible news for one of golf's best men, Jarrod Lyle. Doug Ferguson reports after talking to Lyle friend Robert Allenby.
"If he starts chemo now, he won't be able to touch the baby or watch the birth," Allenby said. "They're inducing her today, and she has the baby, he goes straight into treatments. It's just devastating."
Lyle was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at age 17. He not only recovered, he went on to earn his PGA Tour card. He thought the chemotherapy from his teen years would make him infertile, and was thrilled to learn his wife, Briony, was pregnant.
"He just got his whole life where he wants," said Allenby, who has been exchanging text messages with Lyle throughout the day. "He's married, he has a new baby coming, he's playing great golf. And now this. It's the same cancer that's come back, the same leukemia."
**PGATour.com has a statement from Lyle posted.
He would like to thank the many family and friends from whom he has received messages of support and particularly the medical staff at the hospitals where he is undergoing treatment.
Lyle is an ambassador for Challenge, a Victorian organization that provides a range of essential non-medical services for children with cancer and their families. He was heavily involved with the organization as a teenager, regularly attending camps and other activities.
He recently pledged to give Challenge $1,000 for every eagle he scores during competition rounds for any PGA TOUR, Nationwide Tour or Australian Tour golf event in 2012, a promise that has already seen him donate $2,000.
