Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has
died of cancer aged 36.
It comes just eight days after he
decided to end his treatment to go into palliative care.
Lyle had been undergoing his third
stint of cancer treatment after a recurrence of acute myeloid leukaemia last
year.
He is survived by his wife Briony,
and daughters Lusi, 6, and Jemma, 2.
"It breaks my heart to tell
everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us," Ms Lyle said in a statement.
Ms Lyle said he died at 8:20pm
Wednesday evening, surrounded by friends and family in Torquay.
"He asked that I provide a
simple message: 'Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was
short, but if I've helped people think and act on behalf of those families who
suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn't wasted'."
Lyle had twice beaten cancer, in
1998 as a teenager and again in 2012, and returned to play professional golf
prior to the third reoccurrence of his illness.
He made an emotional comeback to
the course during the 2013 Australian Masters before trying his luck at using a
medical exemption to win back his PGA Tour card in 2015.
The PGA Tour set up a fund to help
Briony and their two children with medical costs throughout his health battles.
Lyle claimed two professional
victories through his career, both in 2008 at the Mexican Open and Knoxville
Open, and has a career-high USPGA ranking of 196.
Former PGA tour player Tripp
Isenhour took to Twitter to express his sadness at the news of Lyle's death.
The announcement earlier this
month that Lyle had entered palliative care was met with an outpouring of
support from the golfing community.
Adam Scott was almost overcome
with emotion when speaking at last week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone
International.
"He is one of the best blokes
there is. Given all the difficulties he's had since his late teens, he has
lived the best life he could with the tough cards he has been dealt.
"He played such good golf
while battling illness; he has been through it all.
"His positivity and general
demeanour has been so good and so infectious on others. It's a good way to
think of how I should live my life."
There will be a public memorial
service at The Sands in Torquay at a date to be announced.
Many of Lyle's friends and
competitors from his days on Tour are getting ready for the year's final major
tournament, the PGA Championship, at Bellerive Golf Course in Missouri.
Players will begin the first round
just before midnight AEST.
The winner of the traditional
pre-tournament Long Drive competition, American golfer Bryson de Chambeau, has
said he would donate his $US25,000 ($33,640) charity winnings to Lyle's family.
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