Jeffrey Guan, the highly-rated young Australian, has vowed to continue chasing his ambition of becoming a top professional despite having lost sight in his left eye after a freak on-course accident last month.
The 20-year-old’s progress through the amateur ranks was so impressive that he was signed up by Sportfive, the agency that represents Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, and was invited to make his debut on the PGA Tour at the Procore Championship.
In a field containing major winners such as Wyndham Clark and England’s Danny Willett, Guan missed the cut by a single shot. Yet the very next week, he was back in New South Wales playing in a pro-am when he suffered a traumatic incident.
On the sixth, Guan was in the process of putting his club back in the bag when he was hit by a ball sliced by an amateur using a three-wood driving off an adjacent hole.
“The instant ringing and pain rushed to my head, and I dropped to the ground,” Guan told Australian Golf Digest.
“I remember seeing blood coming out of my eye and the next thing I knew, I was in an ambulance being transported to a local hospital.”
Guan was soon airlifted to Canberra, where he spent two weeks in intensive care following eye surgery and then underwent another operation in his home city of Sydney.
The medics have informed Guan that they will not know the extent of the damage for six months, but have also warned him that it will verge on a miracle if he regains substantial sight.
He currently has no vision whatsoever and is not allowed to practice until next summer. However, Guan is determined to return. “As a kid, I always had a lot of perseverance and persistence. I will continue to work hard and do my best to achieve my dream,” Guan wrote in a statement. “I will be back.
“Hearing experiences from other athletes that have also made themselves a career with other injuries, injuries that could have been more severe than mine, has also given me that thought of, ‘I can still make it, and, I can still practise and try to be even better than I was before’.
“These four weeks have been the toughest of my life, but I still have that motivation to get back out there and try to play on the biggest tours and play my best golf.”
The news has rocked Australian golf, which had been expecting big things from the two-time national junior champion who confirmed his potential with a top 10 on the Challenge Tour in France in June when finishing in a tie for 10th at the Le Vaudreil Championship, a tournament in which he led at halfway halfway mark.
His coach, Paul Davis, highlighted the misfortune of the rising star who has taught since he was a child. “It’s truly awful -his was actually the first pro-am Jeff has ever played in,” he said. “It’s just the worst possible news after such an amazing week in California.”
Guan and Davis are taking inspiration from Tommy Armour. The Edinburgh-born golfer lost sight in both eyes in a mustard gas explosion during the Battle of Ypres in the First World War. His left eye never recovered. However, the Silver Scot went on to win three majors.
