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Rising Australian golfer makes comeback after losing sight in left eye / Photo: Eakin Howard - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Rising Australian golfer makes comeback after losing sight in left eye
An emerging Australian golfer who lost sight in his left eye after being struck by a golf ball just weeks after making his US PGA Tour debut returned to the professional game Thursday, saying it was "a great feeling".
Jeffrey Guan, 21, was on an upward trajectory last year, signing with the same management company that boasted major winners Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson.
He received a sponsor invite to the PGA Tour Procore Championship in California in September, shooting 69 and 75 to narrowly miss the cut.
But he was hit in the face by a ball at a tournament near Sydney, a freak accident that left him blind in his left eye.
Undeterred, Guan pledged to bounce back -- and he did just that at the NT PGA Championship near Darwin Thursday, firing a first-round 74.
"Teeing off the first was genuinely a great feeling," said Guan.
"I wasn't nervous at all from what I predicted the past couple of days, but there was a lot of mistakes out there and heaps of room for improvement."
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Guan said he had to largely re-learn the game given his limited vision and he wasn't sure what to expect, admitting to "a mix of emotions".
"I didn't think it (comeback) was going to be this year, but then I've been practising and I felt really good over the ball and I was like, 'Why not give it a shot?'," he said.
"There were so many times in the hospital where I just thought, 'Is this going to be over'?
"I couldn't even eat. I couldn't really do anything. I wasn't allowed to walk because I had to keep my eye stable. So yeah, those thoughts were definitely running through my head for three, four months."
Guan said he was taking it a step at a time.
"I'm coming here with really no expectations. I just want to have fun and sort of just play to see where I'm at."
S.Maiolo--INP
