Home grown Jarrod Lyle offsets the field to grab lead in the first round of Australian Open
Australian player Jarrod Lyle pulled in one of the stunning rounds of his career at the first day of the Australian Open here at The Lakes Golf Club, Sydney to grab the first round lead of the event. Battling a devastating cancer, Lyle lost his PGA Tour
card and spent most of his time undergoing the chemotherapy sessions to drive out the deadly disease and has returned to the course just recently after a mild recovery.
Lyle shot a brilliant seven-under, 65 on the first day amidst one of the strongest field in the history of the Australian Open. He is facing foes as formidable as the top ranked Dustin Johnson and the celebrated Tiger Woods. Lyle also revealed that the U-turn
in his career has several reasons, one of the strongest that he got engaged and the second one that his fiancée is now also pregnant.
"Yes, I got engaged this year. That's a good thing. My fiancée is pregnant as well. The pregnancy side of things is something I never knew could happen," Lyle said. "I was always told by my doctors that fertility could be an issue after all the chemotherapy
and stuff. To hear that Briony was pregnant made golf seem insignificant. Those bad days don't affect you anymore. I've got a little bub on the way. I feel that nothing can really worry me now."
The 30-year-old Australian was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a teenager in 1999 and following the painstaking treatment, Lyle lost his tour card on the PGA. He will be making a return to the Qualifying School for the next season hoping that he
will not have to revert back to the Nationwide Tour he once remained a part of.
What appeared to be a flawless round on the first day, Lyle pulled in five birdies and sank a massive 502-metres par-five, 14th to clear the fast approaching Johnson by one shot.
The ultimate crowd-puller, Woods was escorted through the course under tight security as a mammoth turnout of spectators thronged the course. Woods attracted almost all the attention of the crowd despite the fact the star Aussie golfers Jason Day and Robert
Allenby were also partners with the former world number one.
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