Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle dies after long cancer battle

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA » With a contagious smile, a sense of humor and a deep determination to keep playing golf, Jarrod Lyle endeared himself to people around the world during a long struggle against cancer.

The 36-year-old Australian golfer died Wednesday night at his home near Melbourne among family and close friends, the week after opting to forego further treatment and enter palliative care.

“It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us,” his wife, Briony Lyle, said in a statement released by Golf Australia on Thursday. “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, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a teenager and suffered recurrences in 2012 and 2017. He was survived by Briony and two daughters.

“Lusi, Jemma and I are filled with grief and now must confront our lives without the greatest husband and father we could ever have wished for,” Briony Lyle said. “At the same time, we have been blessed and overwhelmed with the messages and actions of support from around the world and feel comforted that Jarrod was able to happily impact so many people.”

Golf Australia paid respects with a video and said the game “has lost one of its greatest characters.”