Brendan Valdes: Pro Who Beat Cancer Returns To PGA Tour

Brendan Valdes returns to the PGA Tour after having cancer — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The golfing feel good story of the year will play out at the Biltmore Championship as Brendan Valdes returns to PGA Tour action after overcoming cancer.

Sponsor's exemptions have become a thorny issue, but nobody will begrudge one going to Valdes, as the 23-year-old is now in remission having been diagnosed with primary mediastinal lymphoma in January this year.

Valdes had a nine centimetre tumor removed from his chest and underwent chemotherapy before finally being given the all-clear in June.

It's been a long road back since then, having to build up his health and fitness from scratch, but now he'll make an emotional return to professional golf on the PGA Tour in North Carolina.

"It was a long process and not a very fun one," Valdes said ahead of the Biltmore Championship.

"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 feel like I'm ready to compete."

Valdes 'blindsided' by cancer diagnosis

Brendan Valdes takes a shot during the US Open

Valdes says he was "completely blindsided" by his diagnosis, which came after a routine visit to the doctor and was a huge blow just as his life and career seemed to be picture perfect.

He'd just got engaged and was about to start his first full season as a pro when he found out the news on January 1 - but now nine months later he's fought all the way back despite losing 30lbs, and all of his fitness, during his treatment .

“It's been a lot of work on trying to get back the stamina that I once had,” Valdes added. “Just being out there walking 18 used to not feel like much of anything. I'm a younger guy.

A post shared by PGA Tour (@pgatour)
A photo posted by on

"As soon as I came back, especially during the process, it was tough for me to walk to the mailbox. 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."

Valdes has Korn Ferry status in 2027 on a medical exemption but can also try his luck at Q-School this year to improve that staus or maybe even go one better and earn a PGA Tour card.

But for now, though, Valdes is just happy to be returning to competitive golf even if his ultimate goal is to be challenging for tournaments again.

“The expectations are just to go out and have fun,” Valdes added. “I mean, 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.

"But I'm just going to stay confident and committed and just go out there and have fun. That's the expectation."

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.