{"id":436603,"date":"2025-08-27T09:59:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T09:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=436603"},"modified":"2025-08-27T10:09:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:09:38","slug":"the-pga-tour-player-who-lost-an-eye-in-a-tragic-pro-am-accident-makes-an-incredible-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/the-pga-tour-player-who-lost-an-eye-in-a-tragic-pro-am-accident-makes-an-incredible-return\/","title":{"rendered":"The PGA Tour Player Who Lost an Eye in a Tragic Pro-Am Accident Makes an Incredible Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/the-pga-tour-player-who-lost-an-eye-in-a-tragic-pro-am-accident-makes-an-incredible-return\/\" target=\"_self\">Jeffrey Guan<\/a> has made his return to golf almost a year after losing an eye in a tragic pro-am accident that nearly ended his promising career. The 21-year-old Australian, once regarded as one of golf\u2019s brightest young prospects, is now preparing to compete in the NT PGA Championship.<\/p>\n<h3>How Guan Lost An Eye in Freak Accident<\/h3>\n<p>Guan was a highly rated junior talent and won the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/australian-open-golf-update\/\" target=\"_self\">Australian Junior Championship<\/a> two years in a row in 2021 and 2022. But his promising golf career took a dramatic turn after he suffered a freak accident during a pro-am in September 2024 that left him blind in his left eye. Guan played on a sponsor\u2019s exemption at the PGA Tour\u2019s Procore Championship in Napa and missed the cut by just one shot.<\/p>\n<p>He returned to Australia to compete in a pro-am in New South Wales just a week after making his PGA Tour debut in Napa Valley. The then-20-year-old was hit in the face by a ball after an errant shot with a 3-wood by another player taking part in the pro-am.<\/p>\n<p>Paramedics rushed him to Canberra for emergency eye surgery. He sustained multiple fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket, and despite receiving immediate medical attention, the damage was severe. Doctors later transferred him to Sydney Eye Hospital for a second operation. Surgeons worked tirelessly to stabilize his condition, but they could not save his sight. Guan lost vision in his left eye permanently.<\/p>\n<h3>Guan Set to Compete At NT PGA Championship<\/h3>\n<p>Doctors told Guan that his recovery process could take up to a year. The physical injuries were only part of the challenge, as he faced weeks in intensive care followed by a long period of rehabilitation. He had to cope with the shock of losing his vision and the uncertainty about whether he would ever return to the sport he loved.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Australian Jeffrey Guan makes his professional return this week, 11 months after a pro-am partner&#8217;s shot caused him to lose his left eye.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GolfDigest\/status\/1960507556608270782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Guan is now ready to compete again after eleven months out, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/rising-stars-and-underdogs-new-talent-making-waves-in-pga-and-liv\/\" target=\"_self\">PGA Tour<\/a> of Australasia granting him a medical exemption. The 21-year-old will make his comeback at the Tailor-made Building Services NT PGA Championship at Palmerston Golf Course in Australia\u2019s Northern Territory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI shot four under at The Australian GC, and I\u2019d hit the green in two on 18,\u201d <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.golfdigest.com\/story\/jeffrey-guan-pro-blinded-in-one-eye-by-accident-returns-to-golf-australia?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=golfdigest\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guan said<\/a>.. \u201cIt was an easier feeling being on the green and already under par. It was cool. Playing at The Australian GC has been surreal, honestly; there\u2019s so much support and people just encouraging me to keep going\u2026Coming back from that 12-month process and escalating slowly, to driving in a car and then slowly chipping and putting was probably the hardest process. Within those months, I couldn&#8217;t do anything and, mentally, I wasn&#8217;t feeling too great.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Guan\u2019s return is more than just a comeback\u2014it\u2019s a testament to resilience and determination. Despite the life-changing accident, he is proving that nothing can keep him away from the game he loves.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Garry Smits\/Florida Times-Union \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeffrey Guan has made his return to golf almost a year after losing an eye in a tragic pro-am accident that nearly ended his promising career. The 21-year-old Australian, once regarded as one of golf\u2019s brightest young prospects, is now preparing to compete in the NT PGA Championship. How Guan Lost An Eye in Freak [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":436605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[8184,8103],"class_list":["post-436603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-jeffery-guan","tag-procore-championship"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436603"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436610,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436603\/revisions\/436610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}