Jeffrey Guan on the Le Vaudreuil Golf Problem in France earlier this yr.
Getty Pictures
Final month, Jeffrey Guan made his PGA Tour debut on the Procore Championship.
He missed the minimize, however simply competing within the occasion was an enormous accomplishment for the 20-year-old Australian professional.
Then, every week later, all the things modified.
Enjoying in a pro-am throughout regional qualifying for the NSW Open in Australia, Guan suffered a fracture to his left cheekbone and eye socket after he was struck by a stray ball.
There have been few particulars about what occurred, however on Thursday Guan took to Instagram to elucidate the incident, the aftermath and his restoration.
He additionally made a promise.
Guan stated on the third gap he and his taking part in accomplice each hit drives up the suitable facet of the green. His accomplice hit first, after which Guan drove up and performed his ball. After he hit, he turned and walked again towards the cart to place his membership in his bag, and that’s when he was struck with an incoming ball.
“The moment ringing and ache rushed to my head, and I dropped to the bottom,” Guan wrote on Instagram. “Voices sounded fairly muffled, and the subsequent factor I knew, I used to be in an ambulance being transported to a hospital with pores and skin patches containing excessive does of Fentanyl.”
Guan was taken to Moruya Hospital then airlifted to Canberra for therapy from a watch specialist. He had his first surgical procedure that night time — “I used to be in insufferable ache, and nervousness about my future was swirling,” he wrote — and a day later had a second process at Sydney Eye Hospital.
For the subsequent two weeks, Guan was in intensive care. He stated he fully misplaced imaginative and prescient in his left eye.
“I couldn’t do a lot,” he wrote. “Sleeping was tough, not to mention strolling or consuming. Any exercise that required vitality meant I used to be in excruciating ache.”
Three weeks after the accident, Guan discovered the stress in his eye had lastly decreased towards regular ranges, and his eye was extra steady.
“That was the primary piece of constructive information,” he wrote.
Nonetheless, docs informed him he had a number of fractures round his eye socket, and his restoration would take a minimum of six months to a yr.
Two years in the past, Guan gained the Junior Gamers Championship and performed within the Junior Presidents Cup. In 2022-23 he performed nicely sufficient on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia to earn a promotion to the Australasian PGA Tour, and in November 2023, after ending ninth on the Asia-Pacific Novice Championship — a match that awards the winner an invitation to the Masters — he turned professional and joined the Australasian PGA Tour. He had a top-five end on the Victorian PGA Championship in simply his second begin, and he added three high 10s since.
Guan earned a sponsor’s exemption into the Procore in Napa, Calif., however not lengthy after his PGA Tour debut he was stressing about his future from a hospital mattress.
Guan stated these nights have been probably the most tough, and he stated the state of affairs made him depressed and indignant and affected his emotional and psychological well being.
“Fortuitously, I’ve been fortunate sufficient to have an enormous help group round me, and I can’t thank all of them sufficient for the help I’ve obtained in current weeks,” he wrote. “I wouldn’t be the place I’m proper now with out all of the encouragement and help I’ve obtained. As a child, I’ve at all times had a variety of perseverance and persistence. I’ll proceed to work onerous and do my greatest to attain my dream. These 4 weeks have been the hardest of my life, however I’m stronger mentally and shall be prepared to overcome any impediment sooner or later.”
As for that promise?
Guan supplied 4 phrases: “I shall be again.”
The Australian Sports activities Basis launched a web-based fundraiser for Guan. You may donate right here.
