(CNN) Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died after a long battle with cancer, leaving a final message shared by his wife: "Thanks for your support, it meant the world."
The 36-year-old father of two "passed away peacefully" Wednesday night after spending time with his family, who announced last week that he had stopped receiving treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia
Lyle was initially diagnosed as a teenager in 1999, but it resurfaced twice, most recently last year. He is survived by his wife Briony, and daughters Lusi, 6, and Jemma, 2.
"It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us," Lyle's wife said in a statement released by Golf Australia . "He passed away peacefully at 8.20pm last night, having spent his final week in Torquay among his family and close friends.
"He asked that I provide a simple message: `Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was short, but if I've helped people think and act on behalf of those families who suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn't wasted.'"
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Sportsman died peacefully on Wednesday night after spending final days with family and friends
The Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died, aged 36, after a recurrence of acute myeloid leukaemia.
Lyle announced this week that he had ceased active treatment for his illness and had begun palliative care.
He died on Wednesday night among his family and close friends in the Victorian town of Torquay.
His wife, Briony, said in a statement: “It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us.”
Lyle had been fighting cancer for a third time since its recurrence last year. But as his condition deteriorated in hospital, his wife revealed on Wednesday last week the heartbreaking decision to end his treatment.
Tributes from the world of golf flowed for Lyle, who was described as “a joy to be around” and an “inspiration to many”.
“The world lost a good man,” wrote South African former world No 1 Ernie Els.
“A class act to the very end,” Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Labor Party, wrote.
Greg Chalmers (@GregChalmersPGA) It is through a river of tears I say goodbye to my friend Jarrod Lyle. A wonderful father, friend and golfer. Quick with a joke, didn’t mind a beer, and just a pure joy to be around every day. Miss you mate. RIP
Francesco Molinari (@F_Molinari) Incredibly sad news about Jarrod Lyle. Tough times for everyone on tour losing someone so special but I cannot imagine what he and his family went and are going through. RIP
Tripp Isenhour (@TrippIsenhourGC) It is with a heavy heart and a mountain of tears that I say a final goodbye to my friend Jarrod Lyle. For 20 years he fought this disease like no one could. Thank you for touching us all in so many wonderful ways! RIP to a champion of a human.
Kelly Kraft (@kkraft11) @jarrodlylepga brave fight with cancer has been an inspiration to many. Thoughts are with his beautiful kids and family 🙏🏽
Scott Stallings (@stallingsgolf) Always sad to hear of losing a member of the @PGATOUR family. Thoughts and prayers with @jarrodlylepga and his family.
Lyle is survived by Briony and daughters Lusi, 6, and Jemma, 2.
“Lusi, Jemma and I are filled with grief and now must confront our lives without the greatest husband and father we could ever have wished for,” Briony said.
“At the same time, we have been blessed and overwhelmed with the messages and actions of support from around the world and feel comforted that Jarrod was able to happily impact so many people throughout his life. Our humble thanks to you all.
“Jarrod was able to take in many of the unbelievably kind and generous acts and words in his final few days and was overwhelmed by the emotional outpouring.
“He asked that I provide a simple message: ‘Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was short, but if I’ve helped people think and act on behalf of those families who suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn’t wasted.’”
A public memorial service will be held in Torquay at a date to be announced later.
Lyle won two professional tournaments during his career – the Mexican Open and the Knoxville Open, both in 2008.
The leukaemia he first suffered as a 17-year-old recurred in 2012, putting a stop to his golf career before he made a remarkable return to the game in 2013.
Editor's note: Contributions can be made via GoFundMe at www.gofundme.com/jarrod-lyles-girls. These funds are intended to be rolled into a trust for Jarrod’s daughters, Lusi and Jemma.
On the first tee at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in mid-November 2013, Jarrod Lyle could feel the tears forming in his eyes. It had been 20 months since he’d played in a competitive golf tournament, and there he was, inside the ropes, family and friends watching him prepare to hit his opening drive in the Talisker Masters, a PGA Tour of Australasia event. Everybody understood the significance of the moment, but kids tend to really bring out the emotion. So, when daughter Lusi, not quite 2, reached out from her mother’s arms to give her dad a hug, Lyle’s vision became blurry.
“That was the end of me, once that happened, I was an absolute mess,” Lyle told the media afterward. “I hit that first tee shot with tears all through my eyes.”
On that overcast day in Melbourne, Lyle had to fight back tears. Then again, fighting was something Lyle had become accustomed to since he received his initial leukemia diagnosis as a teenager. For more than half of his life, Lyle dealt with and fought the disease that begins in the bone marrow cells and spreads through blood. The battle, which lasted nearly 20 years, into adulthood and for a good part of his professional golf career, ended with his death Wednesday at 8:20 p.m. local time at his home in Melbourne, surrounded by his wife and daughters.
Lyle was 36, and while doctors said he was cancer-free, his body had been ravaged by years of medication and just last week he chose to end treatments and leave the hospital.
“It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us," his wife Briony wrote in a statement from the family. “He passed away peacefully at 8.20 p.m. last night having spent his final week in Torquay among his family and close friends.
“(Daughters) Lusi, Jemma and I are filled with grief and now must confront our lives without the greatest husband and father we could ever have wished for.
“At the same time, we have been blessed and overwhelmed with the messages and actions of support from around the world and feel comforted that Jarrod was able to happily impact so many people throughout his life. Our humble thanks to you all.
“Jarrod was able to take in many of the unbelievably kind and generous acts and words in his final few days and was overwhelmed by the emotional outpouring.
“He asked that I provide a simple message: 'Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was short, but if I’ve helped people think and act on behalf of those families who suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn’t wasted.'
“We will hold an intimate and private family service in the coming days. There will be a public memorial service at The Sands in Torquay at a date to be announced later. As per Jarrod’s wish, please donate to Challenge in lieu of gifts or flowers.”
For weeks, the PGA TOUR community had braced for the awful news, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Jarrod Lyle. Jarrod was a true inspiration in the way he faced cancer with a persistently positive attitude and he carried himself with incredible grace, dignity and courage through the recurrences of this relentless disease,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan.
“Despite facing such adversity, Jarrod maintained his passion for golf and continued to pursue his professional career and we were fortunate to have him on the PGA TOUR and Web.com Tour. I’m sure Jarrod’s strength and ability to persevere can be largely attributed to love and devotion to his family, as well as the support of his many friends, including his fellow professionals.
“The entire PGA TOUR family offers our heartfelt sympathy to Jarrod’s wife, Briony, and daughters, Lusi and Jemma. We pledge to them that Jarrod will never be forgotten; we will continue to honor his life and legacy, and that includes helping to support the needs of his family in the months and years to come.”
As a professional golfer and a public figure, Lyle openly lived with his cancer, during both treatments and remission. As a 17-year-old, Lyle generated media attention with his sickness because of the promising golfer he was and because of the relationship he developed with PGA TOUR player and fellow Aussie Robert Allenby. Lyle’s idol, Allenby took an interest in the teenager while Lyle was confined to bed for nine months while undergoing chemotherapy treatments at Royal Children’s Hospital.
Allenby, who was inspired to get heavily involved in a charitable foundation called Challenge Cancer Support Network when a childhood friend died of cancer, provided encouragement to the 17-year-old Lyle to continue pursuing his golf dreams. Though it took him a full year before he had the strength and energy to walk a golf course again, Lyle did Allenby proud. At 20, he accepted a golf scholarship to the Victorian Institute of Sport, which only helped progress his career.
With his cancer in remission, Lyle won the prestigious Lake Macquarie Amateur in Australia in 2003, then he successfully defended in 2004. Lyle turned pro later in ’04 and within a year, people began taking notice when he tied for third at the European Tour’s Heineken Classic in Melbourne, finishing a stroke out of the Craig Parry-Nick O’Hern playoff. Two weeks later, Lyle was playing in back-to-back Web.com Tour events in Australia and New Zealand, his 67-67 start at the New Zealand PGA Championship raising additional eyebrows when he held a share of the 36-hole lead with Peter O’Malley.
Though he would eventually fade into a share of 22nd, Lyle had acquitted himself nicely in a field that included future PGA TOUR winners such as Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman, Jason Dufner, and fellow Aussie Steven Bowditch, who lost in a playoff to O’Malley that week, but embraced a long-time friendship with Lyle.
“Your fight, courage and demeanor is something that generations will look back at, admired and taught,” Bowditch recently tweeted. “Your legacy will forever live on. Rest easy, mate.”
The good play in New Zealand helped open doors for Lyle, who became a full-fledged Web.com Tour member in 2006. He played in 21 tournaments, made 17 cuts, and posted seven top-10s, including a tie for fourth at the Jacob’s Creek Open and a tie for second at the ING New Zealand PGA Championship in his first two starts as a member.
At 24, Lyle was a professional golfer on the rise and while his 18th-place finish on the Web.com Tour money list brought him a PGA TOUR card for 2007, the real highlight to his ’06 season came when he earned a spot into The Open Championship via an international qualifier. Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, was the venue that summer and while a blistering sun enveloped everyone, it shined brightest on Lyle and his idol, Allenby, as they played a practice round together.
“This is what I want to do. It’s all I wanted to do,” Lyle told a pair of reporters off the 18th green. “I’ve come a long way.”
Though his rookie year on the PGA TOUR didn’t go well – Lyle finished 183rd in the inaugural FedExCup standings – he tackled his return to the Web.com Tour in 2008 with an upbeat sense of confidence that would become his trademark. There was a breakthrough with two victories, beating Matt Every by five in the Mexico Open, and defeating Chris Kirk in a playoff at the Knoxville Open.
Following his victory in Morelia, Mexico, Lyle said, “Today was by far the best I’ve played in a long time. I was never out of position. I was never in danger of making a bogey. It was one of those days when everything seemed to come together at the right time. This victory is for my family who has been so supportive of me. I’m just a little sad they’re not here to see it.”
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Golfer Jarrod Lyle reached a career-high 142nd in the world
Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died of cancer aged 36, his family has confirmed.
Lyle overcame acute myeloid leukaemia in 1998 and 2012, before announcing it had returned last year.
He died on Wednesday, after spending his final days with family and friends in the state of Victoria, Golf Australia said in a statement.
Lyle reached a career-high 142nd in the world, and won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. He last competed in 2017.
His wife, Briony Lyle, said that he had been "overwhelmed" by recent support.
"He asked that I provide a simple message: 'Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was short, but if I've helped people think and act on behalf of those families who suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn't wasted.'"
Lyle is survived by Ms Lyle, and their daughters Lusi, six, and Jemma, two.
"Lusi, Jemma and I are filled with grief and now must confront our lives without the greatest husband and father we could ever have wished for," Ms Lyle said in a statement.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Lyle competing in a PGA event in 2015
The news has prompted tributes from friends and players, many referring to Lyle's characteristic "bucket hat".
Skip Twitter post by @GregChalmersPGA It is through a river of tears I say goodbye to my friend Jarrod Lyle. A wonderful father, friend and golfer. Quick with a joke, didn’t mind a beer, and just a pure joy to be around every day. Miss you mate. RIP — Greg Chalmers (@GregChalmersPGA) August 8, 2018 Report
Last week, Lyle announced that he was ending his treatment for cancer to enter palliative care.
"He has given everything that he's got to give," Ms Lyle wrote on Facebook on 31 July.
Australian former golfer Mike Clayton said Lyle's career had not reached greater heights "because of his illness".
"He once described himself as a 'big unit', and he was a big unit - full of fun," Clayton told the ABC.
"He had a beautiful swing, with lots of flair, he was a guy that lit up every room he was in. It's a very sad day for everybody."
