One of the most remarkable comeback stories in Australian will take place in the top end on Thursday when Jeffrey Guan returns to professional golf at the NT PGA Championship.
Guan will take to the fairways of Palmerston Golf and Country Club almost a year on from a freak accident that resulted in him losing all sight in his left eye.
The now 21-year-old was hospitalised after being struck in the eye by an errant golf ball during a pro-am event on the New South Wales south coast last September.
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Only a week earlier, he had made his PGA Tour debut.
Guan was a junior prodigy, winning the Australian Junior crown in successive years in 2021 and 2022, but the career of a potential generational talent seemed over before it had truly began following the accident.
Despite persistent doubts, Guan went to work on relearning the game, and in recent weeks he has shot under-par rounds at his home course of The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
How he fares among his colleagues on the PGA Tour of Australasia is a massive unknown, but Guan is simply ecstatic to be back doing what he loves.
“It’s really weird. I’ve got a mix of emotions,” Guan told the PGA of Australia.
“I’m very excited for this week and for this season to come, but I’m very nervous.
“I haven’t played tournament golf for quite a while, and to think that 12 months ago I was still in hospital… It’s a crazy thing to think about.”
Guan also admitted that during his recovery he was often resigned to the possibility of being be unable to chase his golfing dreams.
But once he discharged from hospital, and began going about day-to-day life, he was drawn back to the game.
Soon enough range sessions and social rounds helped rediscover his pure ball-striking, and his belief seemingly grew with every shot that he could return to tournament play.
Guan does not expect to win the NT PGA’s astonishing crocodile head trophy this week, he simply is thrilled to be back where he belongs.
“I didn’t think it 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?’,” Guan 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.
“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.
“I’m just really, really glad to be back.”
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