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| J.B. Holmes at the Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head in April. |
J.B. HOLMES IS RECOVERING FROM brain surgery performed on September 1. The 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup star had a quarter-sized piece of his rear skull removed to alleviate pressure on his brain. Holmes is on schedule for a full recovery and told Jeff Rude of Golfweek that he kept the piece of bone to remind himself “how lucky I am to be where I am and have a second chance.”
Rude reported that the Campbellsville, Kentucky, native also got outfitted with something else as a result of the surgery:
As part of the procedure, a piece of titanium was inserted into his skull. That means he not only has that light but strong metal in his driver, but also his head.
“It should give me 5 extra yards,” cracked Holmes, who doesn’t need the yardage, considering he has ranked in the top 7 in driving distance in each of his six PGA Tour seasons, including first this year at 318.4 yards.
Holmes started experiencing vertigo in May and had headaches and balance problems throughout the summer. He eventually withdrew from the PGA Championship and opted for the low-risk surgery after being diagnosed with structural defects in the cerebellum.
A two-time PGA Tour winner, Holmes has been doing physical rehabilitation to strengthen his neck muscles. This month he has been chipping and putting, and will soon be hitting iron shots. Holmes hopes to be back in action in December at the Franklin Templeton Shootout, if he’s invited.
−The Armchair Golfer
(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)
Ouch. I hope Holmes' future tours and plays won't be affected by this too much. A number of people kept having difficulties after a skull surgery. I wish this won't affect him much.
It sounds like he's making a good recovery and I wish him all the best.
Sure hope he recovers fully….but my goodness me,the article says low risk surgery,I would think anything involving the brain & surgery is not low risk.
Just in July I woke up at 3am for the nightly bathroom trek & suddenly found the room spinning…yes an attack of vertigo took almost 2 weeks to full recover…very scary.
Even the comment above confirmed that it wouldn't be that easy to recover from it.
Wonder how he will do if he confirms that he will be back by December? Any updates on how his rehabilitation is doing right now? I hope it's enough so he can actually get back on track in good, if not perfect, condition.