Shooting 30-over for four rounds and finishing dead last in the second of the PGA Tour FedExCup Playoffs events doesn’t jar like it could when you have been through what Marc Leishman has.
“It’s a whole lot better than sitting next to your wife in an intensive care unit waiting for her to die.”
The Victorian is just one of two Australians who have advanced to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this week – the other being Sony Open champion Cameron Smith – but would need a stunning form reversal to become the first Aussie to claim the FedEx Cup.
In seven events since the resumption post the COVID-19 suspension Leishman’s best finish is a tie for 40th at the Memorial Tournament and it was a struggle again at the BMW Championship where Olympia Fields Country Club kept all but seven players over par.
Starting with a 10-over 80 on day one, Leishman was a further 17-over for the following two rounds before salvaging a semblance of positivity with a final round of 3-over 73, hopeful that better ball-striking and improved relationship with his putter can carry into the Tour Championship.
And if it doesn’t, Leishman has more than enough perspective to know that bad golf is not the worst life can get.
The 36-year-old keeps a photo on his phone of wife Audrey taken when recovery appeared unlikely. On life support five years ago fighting off sepsis, she was given little chance of survival.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Zp3Cpnksw/?utm_source=ig_embed
It’s a photo that Leishman couldn’t bring himself to take just a day earlier, such was the grim and heartbreaking image that faced him.
“I couldn’t take it because I thought, If she dies, I don’t want to remember her like this,” Leishman revealed.
“She looked worse the day before in the picture that I didn’t take than the next day.
“The next day she actually looked a little bit like herself when I took the photo but the day before she looked like a balloon.”
Which is why the affable Aussie can find positives in such challenging times as a professional.
“It’s a tough game. We all know that. Take the good with the bad,” Leishman told PGA Tour media following his final round.
“This is why you celebrate your wins so hard because you’re going to have times like this. You hope you don’t, but it’s a hard game and you’ve got to take the good with the bad.
“I’m going through a rough patch at the minute but hoping to turn that around next week for sure.
“When you’re playing like this, it’s pretty easy to get down on yourself. I won’t say I haven’t got down on myself a few times, but at the end of the day it’s golf.
“If this is the worst thing that’s ever going to happen to me in my life, I’ll be all right.
“It’s a bad few weeks – few months, whatever it might be – but I’ve been through a lot worse than this off the course.
“I’m still in the Tour Championship. If I have a good week next week, a lot can happen. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
On the course, Leishman hopes to use a layout more accommodating to his preferred shot-shape off the tee to deliver a career-best performance at East Lake.
The Warrnambool native has qualified for the 30-man field four times since 2009 with a best finish of 21st two years ago.
“Today was a little better but still not where I want to be. Baby steps. Just got to get back to where I was,” said Leishman, who will begin the Tour Championship nine shots adrift of FedEx Cup leader Dustin Johnson.
“Could be I found something with my putting today, which was good. I struck it a lot better. Next week I’ll be able to hit some more drivers, which will be good, and I like the greens there next week.
“(Olympia Fields) is a tough golf course. Didn’t set up great for me. A few too many trees on the left there off the holes you’ve got to hit drivers.
“There’s a lot of 2-irons for me on holes where I would like to hit driver but I couldn’t because I fade it.
“I haven’t played well on that course (East Lake) either, but I feel like I’m due there. Things are starting to turn around with how it went today.”
Cameron Smith guaranteed his spot at the Tour Championship with a final round of 69 to finish tied 20th at Olympia Fields while Adam Scott missed out, a final round of 5-over 75 resulting in a fall of 22 places on the final leaderboard.
