Demsey regains PGA Tour card, 10 years & 2 cancer surgeries later
After a 10-year absence and two surgeries to remove a brain tumor the size of a golf ball, Todd Demsey finally made it back to the PGA Tour with perhaps the most significant round of his career yesterday in Winter Garden, Fla.
After a 10-year absence and two surgeries to remove a brain tumor the size of a golf ball,
Todd Demsey
finally made it back to the PGA Tour with perhaps the most significant round of his career yesterday in Winter Garden, Fla.
Demsey, the 1993 NCAA champion at Arizona State and amateur teammate of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, closed with an 8-under 64 in the sixth and final round of Q-school to earn one of 26 full-exempt cards next year in the big leagues.
"I was just playing without any fear today," he said. "I came here to get my card, but it's not life or death. I have things in perspective."
Demsey's only other year on the PGA Tour was in 1997, when he made the cut in only nine of 27 events as a rookie. Back injuries slowed his career on the Nationwide Tour, but the real jolt came in 2002 when he felt constant pressure in his left sinus. At the end of the year, doctors found a tumor behind his left sinus going into his brain. It took two operations to remove the tumor, but Demsey got another scare earlier this year when he discovered the tumor has returned. Doctors believe it is benign, and he will have an MRI next week to decide whether to treat it with radiation.
Demsey finished eighth at Q-school, which means he likely will start his year in 5 weeks at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
Philly File
* Lincoln University sprinter Ashley Parker will be honored at the 104th annual Philadelphia Sports Writers' Association banquet Jan. 28 in Cherry Hill.
Sport Stops
* Former South Carolina pitcher Nick Fuller pleaded guilty to six charges involving three campus burglaries, calling his actions a "bad decision." Fuller, who was Tampa Bay's third-round pick in the 2006 draft but chose instead to attend South Carolina, was sentenced to 18 months' probation. He also must perform 200 hours of community service and pay court costs and restitution. Fuller was dismissed from the team and enrolled at Walter State Community College in Morristown, Tenn.
* Hannes Reichelt led an Austrian sweep of the men's World Cup super-G in Beaver Creek, Colo. *