Victoria’s Marc Leishman might not have won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans but there is little doubt he emerged from the tournament triumphant.
Leishman finished in a tie for 28th behind English winner Justin Rose but his score was more than commendable given he had just returned to the tour after taking a month off to be with his wife Audrey who fought off an infection which almost killed her.
He withdrew from the Masters and has not played since missing the cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 20.
"My expectations were pretty much non existant this week," Leishman said.
"I’ve played golf three times in a month and two of them were nine holes with no warm-up."
Leishman was in fact on track to equal the course record of 62 in the second round of the weather-delayed event but finished with an impressive 63. He described his second round as "knocking the cobwebs off."
The Warrnambool star admitted his wife’s illness had changed his outlook after the virus almost killed her.
“This time probably three weeks ago, I thought I might not have been able to be back out here, to be honest,” he said.
“It was looking like I was going to be a stay-at-home dad and kind of hang the clubs up.
“Definitely, a bogey is obviously still frustrating, but it’s been well and truly put into perspective in terms of how quickly your life can be turned around."
He admitted though: "To be back out here, back on a golf course, is pretty relaxing, pretty therapeutic, I’d say, at the moment."
Leishman said his wife became gravely ill after contracting what initially appeared to be flu symptoms. Then her lungs filled with fluid while her organs began to fail from toxic shock.
Doctors placed her under a medically induced coma and informed Leishman that only about five percent of people survive once their health has deteriorated to such an extent.
Now, Audrey Leishman is home, able to get out of bed and even climb stairs, although ongoing rehabilitation to regain her strength is expected to take a couple months.
“Obviously, I wouldn’t be out here if she wasn’t well on the road to recovery,” Leishman said. “She said, ‘Don’t worry about us; we’ve got plenty of support.’ It was good.”
Meanwhile Jason Day’s fine form continued as he tied for fourth ahead of Steven Bowditch (T12) and Cameron Smith (T43).
The other Australians, including Robert Allenby, Jarrod Lyle , Cameron Percy and Aaron Baddeley all missed the cut.
By: Robert Grant