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Jarrod Lyle has accepted an invitation to play in this year’s NSW Open.
The big Victorian, who overcame his second bout of Leukaemia in 2013, is out to re-establish himself as one of the stars of Australian Golf, and is looking forward to the upcoming summer.
“I love playing at home and I’m excited about the upcoming Aussie summer of Golf,” Lyle said.
Lyle, who also dedicates a lot of his time to support children and families who are battling cancer, was excited to be added to the field of the NSW Open, a tournament he has very fond memories of.
“My first ever pro event was the NSW Open at Liverpool Golf Club back in 2004. I think I finished fourth. Peter Lonard won it that year,” he said.
Lyle returned to tournament golf in 2014 after recovering from his second bout with Leukaemia. Unfortunately the challenge of getting back to the level required to compete on the PGA Tour turned out to be much harder than he realised. His medical exemption only got him into a certain number of events and the inability to play tournaments on a frequent basis all took its toll.
After missing the cut in his last event for the 2015/16 season, and with a young family at home, he’s made the decision to call time on his nine-year career in the United States.
“I am extremely proud of my two web.com tournament wins over there. I loved my time in America, but being a bit older and wiser I’m starting to look at things differently.”
“I decided to take a step back and re-assess what’s important and watching my girls grow up is where it’s at,” he said.
“I still feel like I can win tournaments. I want to be a golfer. The enjoyment is definitely still there and I want to go out every day and shoot the lowest score I possibly can. Tournament golf has been a huge part of my life as both an amateur and a professional.”
Due to the complications of his medical exemption on the US Tour, Lyle had to limit the number of events he played on home soil, making things difficult for the 35-year old to hang onto his Australasian playing privileges. He has a number of tournament invites lined up in the next few months however, and remains hopeful of getting a few more.
“I was a bit handcuffed by the medical exemption. I had to be careful and couldn’t play many events at home last year. I’m thankful for the invites and hopefully I will get starts in the big events.”
Lyle is yet to win a major tournament on home soil, and he’s quick to acknowledge that it’s something he’d like to change.
“I don’t think my career would be complete without a victory at home. I’ve been close on a few occasions and would love it to be able to hold up a tournament trophy here in Australia,” he laughed.