“I lost mobility in a stretch” - PGA Tour hopeful Ian Gilligan reflects on surviving a rare form of cancer
University of Florida senior Ian Gilligan emerged as a breakout star at the 2024 Shriners Open in Las Vegas with a T16 finish. This performance is particularly impressive considering his past struggles. At a young age, Gilligan battled a rare form of cancer for seven months.
At the age of 15, Gilligan was diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma. He was one of only 20 kids in the world suffering from this type of the disease. The golfer had been stretching for a tournament, when he felt a lack of mobility, which eventually turned out to be the first indication.
"I kind of noticed something was weird, was just kind of stretching for a tournament, and I just felt like I lost mobility in a stretch. I was like, that’s kind of weird. I didn’t really think too much of it," he said.
He told the PGA Tour that he later noticed some dry skin peeling off his left armpit, the area where the cancer had been. He went to the hospital, initially believing it was a cyst, but that wasn't the case.
"They took a biopsy of some of the cells and found they were cancerous," he added
The Stanford Research Institute tried chemotherapy which eventually helped Gilligan's treatment. The Gators star recovered after seven months.
Ian Gilligan never thought "too much about negative stuff" during his battle with cancer
Amatuer World no. 9 Ian Gilligan was still very young during his diagnosis. However, he showed resilience and positivity throughout his treatment. He said: (via PGA Tour)
"Kind of just took it day by day. And luckily, I never thought too much about (the) negative stuff. I don't know why that is but that was just kind of how it happened. I felt like I was never terribly worried somehow. I think it was just different in the moment."
While playing golf with his friends in between his chemotherapy was a boost to him, the possibility of never being able to play the sport professionally was his biggest worry. He was candid about it in a personal essay written for Beach Reads.
"One of the scariest parts of all of this was the possibility of not being able to golf ever again. Radiation treatment could have impacted my shoulder mobility to a point where golfing could have been a thing of the past. But, fortunately, I was able to dodge that bullet," he wrote.
The PGA Tour hopeful has yet to earn his card, but given his consistent performances this season, it seems likely that he will do so soon.