PGA Tour golfer details horrific cancer battle: "I was completely blindsided"
Brendan Vadles has detailed his horrific battle with cancer ahead of the PGA Tour's Biltmore Championship.
PGA Tour golfer Brendan Valdes says he's "ready to compete" after overcoming cancer.
The 23-year-old American is teeing it up at the inaugural Biltmore Championship in Asheville, North Carolina, this week.
Valdes found out on 1 January that he had a nine-centimetre tumour right in the middle of his chest.
He had initially gone to the hospital with what he believed to be a minor illness.
After being "completely blindsided" by the diagnosis, the golfer took time off to receive chemotherapy and, thankfully, received the all-clear on 15 May.
"It was a long process and not a very fun one," he told reporters.
"But now that I'm back, I feel like I put in quite a bit of work and a lot of time and effort to really try and get back to where I was.
"Now that I feel like I am back and I see all the guys out here, I feel like I'll be able to go out there and compete.
"I mean, it was a lot of work, a lot of time and effort to try and get back what I lost, of course, during the whole process.
"Feel like I'm ready to compete."
Valdes said he lost approximately 30lbs while receiving treatment. "None of it was muscle," he joked. "That's for sure."
It took him months to return to the course and play 18 holes without feeling winded.
"It was tough for me to walk to the mailbox," he added.
"It's taken a few months to get back to the point in time where I feel like I'm able to walk 18 holes and not be winded at all.
"So it's been a lot of work doing that, a lot of going out and running some, doing a lot of training."
Time | Players |
12:20 | Lee Hodges, Nick Hardy, Mark Hubbard |
12:31 | Ryan Brehm, Troy Merritt, Justin Lower |
12:31 | Emiliano Grillo, Chad Ramey, John Parry |
12:42 | Nick Dunlap, Henrik Norlander, Zach Bauchou |
12:42 | Chandler Phillips, Will Gordon, Hank Lebioda |
12:53 | Ben Kohles, Johnny Keefer, Danny Walker |
12:53 | William Mouw, Stephan Jaeger, Chris Kirk |
13:04 | Nico Echavarria, Corey Conners, Ryo Hisatsune |
13:04 | Karl Vilips, Cam Davis, Taylor Pendrith |
13:15 | Nick Taylor, Billy Horschel, Blades Brown |
13:15 | Andrew Novak, Davis Riley, Lucas Glover |
13:26 | Andrew Putnam, Michael Kim, Dylan Wu |
13:26 | Tyler Duncan, Brendon Todd, Rasmus Højgaard |
13:37 | Taylor Moore, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin |
13:37 | Matthieu Pavon, Max Greyserman, Kristoffer Ventura |
13:48 | Rafael Campos, Ben Martin, A.J. Ewart |
13:48 | Trace Crowe, Keita Nakajima, Chandler Blanchet |
13:59 | Isaiah Salinda, Christo Lamprecht, Keller Harper |
13:59 | Jimmy Stanger, Kensei Hirata, Carson Bertagnole |
14:10 | Alejandro Tosti, Luke Clanton, Spencer Oxendine |
14:10 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jeffrey Kang, Austin Duncan |
17:10 | Jeremy Paul, Marcelo Rozo, Tyler Jones |
17:10 | Seamus Power, Pierceson Coody, David Skinns |
17:21 | Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Beau Hossler |
17:21 | Camilo Villegas, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, David Lipsky |
17:32 | Brice Garnett, Eric Cole, Zac Blair |
17:32 | Austin Eckroat, Jonathan Byrd, Jackson Suber |
17:43 | Luke List, Kevin Streelman, Max McGreevy |
17:43 | Jackson Koivun, Jacob Bridgeman, Webb Simpson |
17:54 | Steven Fisk, Adam Schenk, Kevin Yu |
17:54 | J.T. Poston, Tony Finau, Ben James |
18:05 | Ricky Castillo, Davis Thompson, Aaron Wise |
18:05 | Peter Malnati, Rico Hoey, Ben Silverman |
18:16 | Erik van Rooyen, Denny McCarthy, Kevin Roy |
18:16 | Patton Kizzire, Tom Hoge, Takumi Kanaya |
18:27 | Kevin Kisner, Fabián Gómez, Mac Meissner |
18:27 | Cameron Champ, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim |
18:38 | Vince Whaley, Harry Higgs, Austin Smotherman |
18:38 | Hayden Springer, Zecheng Dou, Davis Chatfield |
18:49 | Neal Shipley, John VanDerLaan, Phillip Yribarren |
18:49 | Jesper Svensson, Gordon Sargent, Pontus Nyholm |
19:00 | Michael Thompson, Patrick Fishburn, Tyler Watts |
19:00 | Paul Peterson, David Ford, Morgan Deneen |
19:00 | Haotong Li, Marco Penge, Brendan Valdes |
By June, he had shot under par from the tips and beaten his caddie in an 18-hole match at Isleworth Country Club in Orlando.
It was evidence that he was on the right path.
Asked about his prospects this week, Valdes said he wouldn't have accepted an invitation from the tournament sponsor if he didn't feel he could compete.
"But, I mean, the expectations are just to go out and have fun," he said.
"Of course, I'm always going to try and win. I'm never going to play an event that I don't feel like I have the ability to."
"I'm so excited. I mean, being out here, this venue is absolutely beautiful.
"And having a sponsor invite, I mean, to me it feels like there are some people out here that have a little bit of confidence in me, and honestly, it means the world to have people backing you like that."
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