[Photo: David Berding]
In early July, Scott McCarron shot an 80 in the first round of the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club and good-naturedly put the highest score of his PGA Tour Champions career in perspective.
“I better have a good attitude or else I’d probably be dead,” he said with a grin in an interview with Golf Digest. “Attitude is a big part of it.”
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McCarron was talking about battling the Stage Two B-Cell lymphoma with which he was diagnosed in March. Months of chemotherapy and radiation were to follow, and through it all McCarron tried to stay upbeat in anticipation of the news he received on Friday.
He is cancer-free.
McCarron announced the great news on his X account with a video of him ringing the bell at Duke Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. He had undergone radiation for the previous 10 days and was told by doctors his cancer was gone.
“Thank you to all the doctors and nurses that took great care of me,” McCarron, 61, wrote. “Thank you to all my friends, family and everyone that sent prayers my way. I’m forever grateful. Now back to golf!”
McCarron won three times on the PGA Tour and has been a force among the seniors, capturing 11 titles, including one major.
He told Golf Digest last month his plan is to return to play at the Boeing Classic near Seattle starting on August 14.
“I’m starting to work out again, but it’s been a real challenge,” he said. “My wife and I have been walking a lot, but I’m a guy who works out hard and runs and Pelotons and all that stuff. I walk up a flight of stairs and I’m dizzy and winded. Luckily, I’ve had the cart and that’s helped. And that’s probably the only reason that I’ve been able to play over the past two months. Other than that, I would not.
“But hopefully after this radiation, I’ll start feeling better. I still feel like I got some good years left in me because I still drive it far enough.”
