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SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPENOctober 14, 2014Jarrod LyleLAS VEGAS, NEVADA MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome Jarrod Lyle. Jarrod, last week you made your comeback to the PGA TOUR after your bout with leukemia. You have a sponsor pick this week, and we're excited to have you here at the Shriners Hospitals For Children. Talk about coming into this week, your thoughts, and we'll have a few questions. JARROD LYLE: Yeah, obviously last week was nice, going out there and Monday qualifying and getting my first start back in over two and a half years. It was nice. It was nice to get out there and obviously make the cut and finish reasonable, in 31st spot. It was a good start, and it just showed me that everything that I've been doing off the course and on the course is starting to come through. Q. How are you ready to physically handle all the regulars that come and play regularly on the TOUR for someone who's been through what you've been through? JARROD LYLE: That's a good question because I haven't really done a lot of gym work and stuff to get myself ready, but I've been playing a lot of golf back home in Australia before I came over, and I think being able to walk, I think one month in May, I think it was May, I played about 18 or 19 rounds of golf in May, so I sort of just did the old match fitness where I'd just go play 18 holes and then back it up four or five days in a row to try and simulate what tournament golf was like again. Q. How did you feel up at Silverado physically when you finished up? How did you feel physically? JARROD LYLE: Fine, yeah. Look, I get very tired at nighttime, but I'm still able to back it up the next day, which is a big step in the right direction. You know, I played three weeks in a row on the Web.com TOUR and was pretty tired after those three weeks, but now I'm doing this week here at the Shriners and heading back to Australia for some tests and stuff straight after this. Hopefully, touch wood, everything is okay, but I can tell that there's nothing going wrong with me at the moment. Q. What's been working for you out there? You had a Top 40 finish and you haven't touched a club, at least at a PGA TOUR event, in a long time. That's hard to do for guys that are out here every week. JARROD LYLE: Yeah, look, you know, as I said, I've been working really hard on the golf course with my coach, Sandy Jameson back in Australia, and we're lucky that I was able to fly in here the week before the Frys event. We spent a week out here practicing and playing every day and working on the golf swing and just fine tuning everything. We had a really, really good week, and it's nice to be back here. It kind of feels like I was here just last week, but it's nice to come back to a golf course that I enjoy playing, and it's a great tournament to be a part of. I'm just very grateful that I've been given the opportunity to come and play. Q. How did you feel with the emotion at part of what you went through with cancer? JARROD LYLE: Well, that's a tough question. I think the whole process was very tough on me, but I think it was a lot tougher on my wife. I sort of‑‑ I guess in a way it was lucky that I had been through it once before and I knew what was to come. I knew what was the whole protocol of the treatment and all that kind of stuff. I think for me it was a little bit easy to deal with. Obviously I had good days and bad days in there, and there was days where I was that sick that I didn't ever think I was ever going to get out of there. But I'm back, I'm playing golf, and I guess the whole emotional side of things is I can just come out and play golf and put that part of it behind me. Q. Is that kind of what kept you going through all your treatments, the idea that you could get back on TOUR, do what you love to do, and be able to beat cancer at the same time? JARROD LYLE: Oh, look, I think there was a lot of times, and it was probably for a good 18 months, that golf was the furthest thing from my mind. It was all about watching my daughter grow up and being a part of her life. You know, I said to my wife and I said to a lot of people that if I never play golf again, I'm happy with that. I'd sort of made that decision early on that if golf wasn't part of my future, then I could step away from the game and be happy. You know, with a few kicks in the pants from my wife, it was easy to get back and play golf and sort of get back to what I love doing because my wife knew that that's what I really, really wanted to do, and with her support and her help, I'm back playing again. Q. The pins that you're wearing, the Leuk the Duck pins have been very popular out on TOUR since you first went into remission. A lot of players have sported them. There's actually a head cover on a site in Australia that sells these to support leukemia charities. Kind of talk about the Leuk the Duck and the head covers which actually are on sale here at the tournament in the clubhouse this week. JARROD LYLE: Yeah, it's called Leuk the Duck. It's a mascot for a cancer organization in Melbourne, Australia, called challenge. I'm an ambassador for this organization, and Robert Allenby is a patron, as well. It's their mascot, it's L‑e‑u‑k, as in leukemia, and we decided that as a bit of a thank you to the Shriners Hospital for giving me the opportunity to come and play here that we thought it would be a good tie‑in to sell some of these head covers and help raise some money for the hospital, too. They're in the pro shop for sale. They'll be here all week. I've said that anyone that buys a head cover can come and get a photo with me at any time. Whether they want to do that, that's up to them. It's just a nice way to be able to give back for the opportunity that I've been given this week. MARK STEVENS: Thanks for your time, Jarrod. Appreciate it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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