Those golfers who have turned the Players Championship into the John Deere Classic South — all the low scores without the farm machinery — will have themselves quite a shootout this weekend.
As for Acworth’s Jason Bohn, he will enjoy the resort with his wife and two boys for a bit. Catch some pool time. Maybe soak in a little of the competition. Life is good, even when it’s certain you won’t make the cut.
Bohn’s comeback from the February heart attack and resulting procedure to clear his blocked artery made no great leaps forward at the Players. He missed his third consecutive cut in this, the fourth tournament he has played since returning to the PGA Tour in mid-April. He struggled in with a 5-over 77 on Friday.
Low numbers were everywhere in the second round. It was Colt Knost’s turn to shoot the course-record-tying 63 (matching Jason Day’s Thursday feat). Rory McIlroy shot 64 and came off the course looking like someone had just stolen his wallet, chapped over a final-hole bogey. Day was 5 more under par through 14 holes in Friday’s weather-delayed second round, at 14 under overall, one of five players who were double digit in the red.
Bohn, meanwhile, left the property 7 over for two days, a man uninvited to this party. It’s not so much the heart disease that is bothering him these days. It’s the cure.
Bohn, 43, has flooded his body with a high-dose combination of statin and blood-pressure and blood-thinning medication. And his body is fighting back. “There are a lot of positives to (the medications) — they keep me alive — but there are a lot of negatives, too,” Bohn said.
Tuesday was the worst. His muscles ached, and he was dizzy nearly to the point of passing out, his wife, Tewana, said. Some tinkering with the dosage got him in shape to play. And there are blood tests awaiting him when he returns to Atlanta as doctors try to find the balance that will allow him to: A) survive and B) effectively function on the course.
The good news Thursday was that, other than some bleeding from the scorecard, Bohn physically was a little better. The score, he said, “had nothing to do with the medication, it was just bad golf.”
His competitive life is clearly divided into two periods, pre- and post-heart attack. Before falling ill following the second round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and being rushed into what was a life-saving procedure, Bohn was playing some of the best golf of his life.
He had two second-place finishes and one third place in the fall, and his world ranking crept into the top 60.
In his 29 rounds played this season before the heart attack, Bohn was a combined 62 under par. In the 10 rounds since his return he is a cumulative 25 over.
Given the results, one might ask if he had any second thoughts about returning too soon, hitting his first competitive shot 47 days after the heart attack.
“Maybe I came back quickly because I just really wanted to. I don’t have any second thoughts. I don’t want to look back. I always want to look forward. There’s no better place to (test his readiness) than out here,” he said.
“I’ll get (the medications) all balanced out, and it will be fine.”
As his story advances from the good fortune he had in seeking quick treatment and the inevitable deep thoughts that a brush with mortality can inspire, Bohn basically needs to get back to being a darn good golfer.
When next he’ll put himself on display is a fluid proposition. Bohn is taking off next week, and then will adjust according to what his body is telling him. “I’m coming into the heat of the summer. I don’t want to be woozy and going up and down and feeling unbalanced,” he said.
His Alpharetta-based swing coach, Mike Perpich, is nothing but optimistic. “Before, I’d always tell him, ‘You’ll get better and better as the year goes by.’ I’ll tell him that this year, too. It’s just going to take a little time.”
In the meantime, he can take pleasure in all the other good things in this life as well as the difference he has made in the life of others. Spurred by his crisis, Bohn’s mother decided to undergo a heart stress test. Next stop for her, bypass surgery.
As Bohn was packing up his golf bag outside the scoring area at the end of the Players Championship 2016 experience, NBC’s Jimmy Roberts approached. The on-air reporter didn’t want to know what happened on that chunked chip shot on No. 15 or the pitch that got away from him on No. 3 and found the water.
Rather, Roberts just wanted to tell Bohn that because of his episode, he’s got an appointment with his cardiologist. Just for a check-up.
Bohn issued the widest smile ever recorded by a fellow who just missed the cut.
The golf was bad. But life is good.
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