Jarrod Lyle (21 August 1981 – 8 August 2018) was an Australian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He won twice on the

2008 Nationwide Tour The 2008 Nationwide Tour season ran from January 24 to November 9. The season consisted of 30 official money golf tournaments, five of which were played outside the United States. The top 25 players on the year-end money list earned their PGA Tou ...

. He played a number of seasons on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

; his best finish being tied for 4th place in the 2012

Northern Trust Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

. Soon after this performance, Lyle was diagnosed with a recurrence of leukemia, with which he was diagnosed as a teenager. Subsequent treatment limited his playing time and in July 2018, Lyle decided to stop treatment. Lyle died on 8 August 2018 at the age of 36.

Early life

Lyle was born in

Shepparton, Victoria Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

, Australia. He got his start in golf at age six when he caddied for his father. At the age of 17, Lyle was diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may includ ...

and was confined to his bed for nine months while undergoing chemotherapy treatments at the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia. As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...

. It took another 12 months before he had the energy to walk a golf course again. He began a friendship during that time with PGA Tour member and fellow Australian

Robert Allenby Robert Allenby (born 12 July 1971) is an Australian professional golfer. Early years Allenby was born on 12 July 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria. His father had emigrated to Australia from Leeds, UK as a young man. Professional career He turned p ...

. He was diagnosed with a recurrence of the disease in March 2012.

Professional career

Lyle turned professional in 2004. He played a number of tournaments on the

2005 Asian Tour The 2005 Asian Tour was the 11th season of the modern Asian Tour, the main men's professional golf tour in Asia excluding Japan, since it was established in 1995. Thaworn Wiratchant Thaworn Wiratchant (born 28 December 1966) is a Thai profession ...

and was runner-up twice, in the

Macau Open The Macau Open is a men's professional golf tournament on the Asian Tour which takes place in Macau. It was founded in 1998. The venue is the Macau Golf and Country Club at Coloane. Past winners including international stars and multiple Europea ...

and the

Brunei Open The Brunei Open was an Asian Tour golf tournament. The 2005 staging was Brunei's first ever professional golf tournament, and it was won by Terry Pilkadaris of Australia. The event is held at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the Empire Hote ...

. He was runner-up in the 2006

ING New Zealand PGA Championship The New Zealand PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is currently known for sponsorship reasons as the SEC NZ PGA Championship. History The tournament been played since 1909, with some gap periods. It was orig ...

, an early season event co-sanctioned by the

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental golf tour, tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at tha ...

. He played on the remainder of

2006 Nationwide Tour The 2006 Nationwide Tour season ran from January 26 to November 12. The season consisted of 31 official money golf tournaments, three of which were played outside the United States. The 2006 Nationwide Tour graduates, top 22 players on the year-en ...

and finished 18th on the money list and earning his PGA Tour card for 2007. He made only three top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2007 and finished 164th on the money list and lost his Tour card. Back on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, he won twice, at the Mexican Open and the

Knoxville Open The Visit Knoxville Open is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is played annually at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. It is one of four original Tour events still played. The Knoxville News Sentinel Th ...

, and was runner-up in the

Xerox Classic The Xerox Classic was a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour from 2005 to 2008. It was played in August at Irondequoit Country Club in Rochester, New York, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the ...

. He finished 4th on the money list and earned his 2009 PGA Tour card. 2009 was another disappointing season on the PGA Tour, his only top-10 finish being in the

Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, held at Playa del Carmen, south of Cancún. It debuted in February 2007 and was the first PGA Tour event in Mexico this century. Hist ...

, an alternate event on the tour. In 2010 Lyle played tournaments on the

and the

but finished 5th in the 2010 Q-School to earn his full card on the

for 2011. Lyle scored a

hole-in-one In golf, a hole in one or hole-in-one (also known as an ace, mostly in American English) occurs when a ball hit from a tee to start a hole finishes in the cup. A ball hit from a tee following a lost ball, out-of-bounds, or water hazard is not a ho ...

at the

Waste Management Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

in 2011 on the par-3 16th 'Stadium Hole' winning $25,000 for a charity of his choice. This was the first hole-in-one on the 16th in the Phoenix Open for nine years. He regained his card with another good performance in the Q-School and played on the PGA Tour again 2012. He had his best finish in a PGA Tour event in February 2012 when he tied for 4th place in the

. The following week, in the

Mayakoba Golf Classic The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, held at Playa del Carmen, south of Cancún. It debuted in February 2007 PGA Tour, 2007 and was the first PGA Tour event in Mexico this ...

he was infected by an insect bite. Subsequent tests resulted in the diagnosis of the recurrence of leukemia. After his second remission, Lyle made his return to competition at the

Talisker Masters The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015. History In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament. Though the ...

in late 2013 and made the cut. In 2014, he played his first PGA Tour-sanctioned round in 29 months at the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...

Midwest Classic The AdventHealth Championship is a Korn Ferry Tour event that was played for the first time in 2009 as the Christmas in October Classic. It has been played at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park, Kansas and Blue Hills Country Club ...

and finished T11. Once Lyle made his allotted rehab Web.com Tour starts, he was able to return to the PGA Tour where he had 20 starts and had to earn $283,825 to match

Kevin Chappell Kevin Alan Chappell (born July 8, 1986) is an American professional golfer who is currently playing on the PGA Tour. Amateur career Chappell was born in Fresno, California. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he won the Ja ...

, the golfer who finished 125th on the 2012 PGA Tour money list. Lyle made his first PGA Tour start since 2012 after

Monday qualifying A Monday qualifier is a stroke play golf tournament held on the Monday before a professional golf tournament that awards top finishers entry into the professional tournament. Those who enter the Monday qualifiers are those with no status on the tou ...

for the Frys.com Open in October 2014, where he made the cut and finished T31. Lyle was unable to meet the terms of his medical exemption and his leukemia returned in July 2017.

Death

In July 2017, Lyle began treatment for another recurrence of the leukemia, but a year later decided to end treatment and begin

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

. He died on 8 August 2018, at age 36. In 2021, the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ra ...

added the

TPS Murray River The Players Series, titled as the Webex Players Series for sponsorship reasons, is a series of professional golf tournaments played in Australia with men and women competing in the same field, although they play from different tees. The series beg ...

to their schedule as part of

The Players Series The Players Series, titled as the Webex Players Series for sponsorship reasons, is a series of professional golf tournaments played in Australia with men and women competing in the same field, although they play from different tees. The series beg ...

. The tournament was played at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, near his home town, being named in memorial of Lyle.

Personal life

Lyle married his long-time partner Briony Harper in December 2011. They have two daughters.

Amateur wins

*2003

Lake Macquarie Amateur The Lake Macquarie Amateur was an amateur golf tournament in Australia. It was first played in 1958 and was organised by and played at the Belmont Golf Club in nearby Marks Point, New South Wales. It was a 72-hole stroke play tournament (54 holes i ...

*2004

Professional wins (2)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
''Note: Lyle never played in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.''

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

(representing Australia):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing Victoria): 2002, 2003 (winners), 2004

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyle, Jarrod Australian male golfers PGA Tour of Australasia golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Sportspeople from Shepparton Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Deaths from acute myeloid leukemia Deaths from leukemia in Australia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) 1981 births 2018 deaths