Jeffrey Guan at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France earlier this year.
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Last month, Jeffrey Guan made his PGA Tour debut at the Procore Championship.
He missed the cut, but just competing in the event was a huge achievement for the 20-year-old Australian professional.
Then a week later, everything changed.
Playing as a pro-am during the regional qualifiers for the NSW Open in Australia, Guan broke his left cheekbone and eye socket after being hit by a stray ball.
There have been few details about what happened, but on Thursday Guan took to Instagram to explain the incident, the aftermath and his recovery.
He also made a promise.
Guan said that on the 3rd hole he and his playing partner both drove to the top right of the fairway. His teammate scored first, then Guan drove up and played his ball. After the hit, he turned back to the cart to put the bat in his bag, and that’s when he was hit by an incoming ball.
“Crying and pain rushed to my head, I fell to the ground,” Guan wrote on Instagram. “Voices were slurred, and the next thing I knew, I was in an ambulance being rushed to the hospital with high levels of Fentanyl on my skin.”
Guan was taken to Moruya Hospital and then airlifted to Canberra for treatment by an eye specialist. He underwent the first operation that night – “I was in excruciating pain, and anxiety about my future was shifting,” he wrote – and a day later he underwent a second procedure at the Sydney Eye Hospital.
For the next two weeks, Guan was in the intensive care unit. He said he lost sight completely in his left eye.
He wrote: “There was not much I could do. “Sleeping was difficult, let alone walking or eating. Any activity that required strength meant that I was in great pain.”
Three weeks after the accident, Guan felt that the pressure in his eye had finally decreased to a normal level, and his eye had become more stable.
He wrote: “That was the first piece of good news.
However, doctors told him that he suffered multiple fractures in the corner of his eye, and that his recovery would take at least six months to a year.
Two years ago, Guan won the Junior Players Championship and played in the Junior Presidents Cup. In 2022-23 he played well enough on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia to be promoted to the Australasian PGA Tour, and in November 2023, after finishing 9th in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship – the tournament that rewards the winner of an invitation to the Masters – he turned turned pro and joined the Australasian PGA Tour. He finished in the top five at the Victorian PGA Championship in his second start, and has added three top 10s since then.
Guan received a sponsor’s release from Procore in Napa, Calif., but not long after his PGA Tour debut he was stressing about his future in a hospital bed.
Guan said that night was the most difficult, he said the situation made him depressed and angry and it affected his emotional and mental health.
“Fortunately, I’ve been fortunate to have a great group of supporters, and I can’t thank everyone enough for the support I’ve received over the past few weeks,” she wrote. “I would not be where I am now without all the encouragement and help I have received. As a child, I have always had great endurance and perseverance. I will continue to work hard and do everything possible to achieve my dream. These four weeks have been the hardest of my life, but I am mentally strong and will be ready to overcome any obstacles in the future.”
About that promise?
Guan said four words: “I will come back.”
The Australian Sports Foundation has launched Guan’s online sponsorship. You can donate here.
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