By Dave Shedloski
His score was a nine. High scores are death to a golfer. That’s a figurative expression, of course, one that longtime tour professional Loren Roberts accepts as oft-recycled gallows humor among his fellow competitors. A few months ago, however, Roberts was forced to confront the kind of ugly math that has literal life-and-death consequences. Fortunately, he was able to maintain his usual wry disposition.

“My first thought was, ‘Well, nine is better than a 10,’ ” he said.

This nine in question was Roberts’ Gleason score. In the 1960s, American physician and pathologist Donald Gleason developed a 1-10 scale that helps predict the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. A higher score signifies a higher risk of advancing cancer, which correlates to a lower chance of survival.

Roberts learned in December after a poor result in his annual Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test—used to detect prostate cancer and other prostate abnormalities—and a follow-up biopsy that he had prostate cancer. And it was the aggressive kind. His doctors at home in Memphis suggested he first undergo radiation treatment, but Roberts, after doing plenty of research, nixed that idea because, he said, “it could have effectively ended my career.”

Instead, after playing in the PGA Tour Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, in Hawaii, where he finished 32nd, Roberts underwent surgery on Feb. 14 to have his prostate removed. “How about that for a Valentine’s Day gift?” he mused with a slight laugh.

On Thursday, he’ll give himself an early birthday present. Roberts, who turns 63 next month, is competing in this week’s Regions Tradition, the year’s first major on the PGA Tour Champions. The California native won the event in 2005, the first of his 13 wins in senior golf, so it seems like an appropriate place for his comeback.

Originally, Roberts had targeted the Insperity Championship two weeks earlier in Houston, but his game wasn’t quite ready for competition and public consumption. That doesn’t mean he expects to play well this week at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. Winless since 2012, Roberts is too much of a realist. But he loves the game and still hopes to enjoy the competition for a few more years.

“I want to leave it on my terms,” he said.

The ever-modest Roberts, it should be noted, also had his own terms for this story, repeatedly pleading that it not be solely about him, but also about awareness of the affliction. He cited the support he received from many of his peers who quietly have endured the same fight, the same fears, the same doubts about their respective futures—and not just merely as professional golfers.

No, Roberts isn’t unique in his adversity. He’s just the latest to overcome it.

The American Cancer Society estimates that roughly 165,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2018 resulting in nearly 30,000 deaths. The ACS reports that one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, and it is the second to lung cancer in leading causes of cancer deaths in American men.

“You live long enough and you are probably going to develop prostate cancer,” said two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North, who is a survivor of the aforementioned two most common varieties of cancer in men—skin and prostate. “The good news for men today is that it is treatable if you catch it early, and you’re stupid if you don’t get it checked out. It’s a simple blood test.”

Michael Cohen/Getty Images
Like Roberts, North was treated for prostate cancer in 2014, and tries to help raise awareness about the disease.

North is referring to the PSA test. Arnold Palmer brought widespread attention to the disease—and the importance of PSA testing—when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997. Palmer had his prostate removed and underwent radiation treatment after a biopsy revealed the malignancy that PSA tests had indicated.

In his final book, A Life Well Played, published just weeks after his death in 2016, Palmer recalled how he stood in front of a crowded room at his Bay Hill Club just a month after surgery and began a speech with the quip that elicited roars of laughter: “I’m here to tell you about prostates. You know … I don’t have one.”

“Arnold did a lot of great things, and he was great about this, talking about it and getting information out there that probably saved some lives,” North said.

North underwent prostate surgery in late 2014. He was at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, in Scotland, serving as an assistant captain to Tom Watson, with the upcoming procedure hanging over his head. “I knew for six months that this is what I was going to have to have done,” he said. “That was tough. It was a tough time. But it also wasn’t the first surgery I ever had. You go get it done and move on. I was lucky. But you get lucky for catching it early, and Loren is right. There needs to be more done about awareness of the problem.”

Don Pooley didn’t need to be made aware; he knew he was a candidate for prostate cancer. His father, Sheldon, died of the disease when he was 62. So, Pooley remained vigilant with his screening. “It’s a treatable cancer if you catch it early and horrible if you don’t, and I saw what happened with my dad,” Pooley said. “You do not want to mess around with this.”

Allan Campbell
Roberts returns this week to play a senior major he won in 2005.

Six years ago, Pooley’s doctor, knowing the family history, recommended a biopsy after his PSA test indicated rising levels of the PSA protein. Sure enough, Pooley had cancer, and just a few months later he underwent surgery in Philadelphia.

“It’s a difficult procedure. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Pooley, 66, who retired from competitive golf in 2016. “I had been through several operations—back surgery, shoulder surgery … but this was a tough one. It was months before I could play golf again. I’m glad Loren is going back already. That’s pretty good as far as a turnaround to try to play competitive golf. A great story and a great example of the kind of happy ending you want to see when someone goes through this kind of thing.”

“There are a lot of those stories, thankfully,” Roberts said. “I was amazed by the number of guys that I know just around my home in Memphis here. You get to talking, and they ask you why you’re not playing and you explain you’ve had minor surgery. Then you find out they’ve had it, too and you’re like, ‘What? I didn’t know that.’ ”

Roberts was supposed to lay low for six weeks after surgery, but he admits he “kind of cheated” after sitting around for three weeks and began working out a bit and practicing his short game. Which leads to his biggest challenge this week and down the road. Nicknamed “Boss of the Moss” because of his deft putting touch, Roberts isn’t worried about pain or fatigue, but his ability to score because he feels lost on and around the greens.

“I’ve talked to other guys about this. They put you out, and I was under for almost five hours, and I think when they put you under it almost kind of erases the tape,” he said. “I went out and I was yipping with the putter and chili-dipping wedges and everything else. It’s like I forgot how to do it. So I’m having to relearn all of it. That’s actually the biggest hurdle for me.”

Roberts’ hope going forward is to play at least 12 events this year. And he wants to compete until age 65 and then take stock of his career, which includes eight wins on the PGA Tour.

“I just want to get out there and play,” he said. “I’m ready to move forward. I don’t want this to defeat me. I want to go do play golf as well as I can for as long as I can and get back to living my life my way.

“I think,” he added with an air of wistfulness, “that that’s what anyone who has been in this situation would want. You just want things to get back to normal.”

The post Friends make Loren Roberts return to golf special appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker

Andy North played in 21 U.S. Opens during his career, winning two of them in 1978 at Cherry Hills and 1985 at Oakland Hills, so he has seen his share of courses and set ups. He’s also serving as an analyst for ESPN this week. So what does he expect this week at Erin Hills, which is hosting its first U.S. Open, and the first ever held in North’s home state of Wisconsin?   “Will the winning score be four over, will the winning score about 20 under?” North said. “No one has any idea.

Andy North, U.S. vice-captain, looks on during practice ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

“It’s a different type of Open set up. Is it right? Is it wrong? I don’t know. It’s a situation to where the fairways are as wide as you’ve ever had at a U.S. Open. There’s not any rough around the greens. And I think wind is going to have a huge impact on what happens. Yes, there’s a lot of fescue out there, but you’ve got basically an area of 50-plus-yards wide to drive the ball to keep it out of the fescue.”

Ultimately, different is the key word there.

Erin Hills is nothing like Oakmont last year, or the run of future venues that includes Shinnecock Hills, Pebble Beach, Winged Foot, Torrey Pines, The Country Club outside Boston, Los Angeles Country Club and Pinehurst.

To say North prefers what’s ahead is an understatement. He’s a traditionalist and most of those are classic Open tracks.

Yes, North is proud to have the national championship in his backyard but listening to him talk about a course that opened in 2006 hosting one of golf’s four biggest events was … interesting.

“I think that’s one of the surprises when it was announced, that here’s a golf course that’s so new,” he said. “I’ve always felt like such a big part of the championship is the history that goes with it. To go to Oakmont and know that these guys won there before, that Arnold did that and Johnny Miller shot this score, that’s really neat for the player. Then you actually have some idea what it takes to win there. Ideally, I tried really hard to figure out what the score I needed to shoot when I came to one of these events. And then you try to fit your game plan around trying to get to that score at the end of the week. When you don’t have any idea, it makes it much more difficult.”

Particularly given constantly changing weather, not to mention what tees and hole locations the USGA will use come Thursday when the championship begins in earnest.

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Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

EXPERIENCE AT ERIN HILLS

A few players in the field this week have seen Erin Hills before this year. The course played host to the U.S. Amateur back in 2011. That doesn’t necessarily add up, however, to any sort of advantage.

“It’s weird, I don’t remember much from 2011,” said Jordan Spieth, who, along with Peter Uihlein, reached the quarterfinals of the championship six years ago.

What he did remember was that he won a U.S. Junior title a few weeks before; the par-5 first; and the last four holes, including the par-5 18th where he went bunker-to-bunker-to-bunker to lose his match against Jack Senior.   Coming back this year, Spieth didn’t turn to old notes—he doesn’t even know where they are—or re-watch the event. Instead, he started from scratch with his preparation.

It’s probably a good idea given a few changes to the course.   “I needed to do some extra work,” he said, working with instructor Cameron McCormack (above) during practice rounds. “That was six years ago and we didn’t do the same kind of homework that I do these days with golf courses. … We just started over.”

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Jamie Squire/Getty Images

SCOTT WILL HAVE ANOTHER

The last six majors have been won by players who had never previously won a major.

Winning the first one is tough. Getting the second can be easier, or harder, depending who you ask. Only 37 players have won two career majors, compared to 135 one-timers.

Adam Scott won his first major four years ago at the Masters. It came at age 32 and after more than a decade on tour. He’s still waiting for his second.

“My real focus on actually believing I could win a major was cut short, even though it took me a long time,” Scott said Tuesday from Erin Hills. “It was only in ’11 that I really started performing well in majors and I actually had a real belief inside me that I would do it. So it was only a couple of years, and it’s been longer than a couple of years since I won the Masters.

“I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated, but if we’re having this conversation in another year, maybe.”

Scott has taken a different approach recently in an effort to add his name to the list of multiple-major winners, playing the week leading into a major as opposed to taking it off like he has done in the past. In the first major of the year, he tied for ninth at the Masters.

“I’m seeing progress in my game where I want it,” Scott said, noting the sharpness of his long irons. “This is the week I want to peak. I’m glad to see my long game at the level I like to see it, especially here at this course where it will be tested more than anywhere else this year probably. And generally my short game improvements this year have been good. So it would be a great week to put it all together and show those improvements in my short game when it’s needed around here.”

As for the trend of first-timers? It’s anyone’s guess.

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Grounds crew work on the fourth hole cutting down fescue rough during Tuesday’s practice round at the 2017 U.S. Open. Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS

Reaction to the USGA mowing fescue Tuesday on holes 4, 12, 14 and 18 ran the gammet. “Really?!” said Rory McIlroy. “We have 60 yards from left line to right line. You’ve got 156 of the best players in the world here, if we can’t hit it within that avenue, you might as well pack your bags and go home.” Added Jason Day: “I think they needed to because it was getting a bit out of control in some spots.” The USGA’s response was that it was done as part of the plan based on weather conditions. They didn’t say it, but they also want to avoid controversy and a parade of lost balls, an image that in talking to Paul Azinger the USGA did not want to have. …

Some are still holding out hope that Phil Mickelson could attend his daughter’s graduation and make it to Erin Hills in time to play a “weather-delayed” Thursday afternoon round. Maybe the golf gods will reward a guy who has finished second six times in this event, but it seems unlikely given the forecast. …

Under par, probably more than a few under par, will win this year’s U.S. Open.

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Christian Petersen

WHO I LIKE THIS WEEK

Erin Hills isn’t just a big ballpark, it’s a huge piece of property. It’s a long walk and you can expect rounds the first two days to stretch near the six-hour mark. With that in mind, look for the power hitters to have an advantage: Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day all come to mind. McIlroy is coming off a month-long layoff, though, and Day seemed to have trouble gauging some of his sightlines on the featureless horizon where landing areas appear tighter than they are. That leaves Johnson, a player who doesn’t overthink it and is a terrific ball-striker as well. This place seems made for him. Christian Petersen

The post How will Erin Hills fare? One prominent local isn’t even quite sure appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.