Morgan Hoffmann’s journey is an incredible story. He can perhaps add yet another chapter to it this week.
Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in 2017, has slowly but surely started playing golf again in an effort to return to the PGA Tour. The 34-year-old has played in 167 Tour events in his career and earned a little more than $6 million. Doctors told him he didn’t have much of a chance to live.
Now, he’s in contention on the Korn Ferry Tour heading to the weekend in his first full season back.
Hoffmann had nine birdies in a 7-under 64 on Friday at the Lecom Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He sits at 13 under for the tournament, trailing only Brandon Crick by a shot going to Saturday.
“I’ve been knocking rust off since the beginning of the season,” Hoffmann said. “It feels really good to be back out here competing again. I’m very grateful to be here.”
Hoffmann has finished T-59 and T-52 in his two made cuts in five starts this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, but one weekend is enough to vault someone up the standings and into a position for a PGA Tour card.
His search for alternative treatments for his incurable disease took him around the world, eventually settling in Costa Rica. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy.
“The last two years have been a lot of ups and downs and working on health still,” Hoffmann said. “My goal is to get back on the PGA Tour. Let’s have a win, or start there. That’s a good goal.”
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – This Lowcountry region by the ocean, the famous lighthouse looming over the pristine land, offers the ideal locale for players to decompress after playing the Masters.
The links of Harbour Town, the southern hospitality, the laid-back nature, beaches, the cool breezes, top-scale restaurants, and ample opportunities to cast a line and float away the time on a boat makes many wanting to never leave.
Unfortunately, there comes the 36-hole cut.
And with the winds whipping cross Harbour Town, especially in Friday’s second round, it was not an easy walk around the tree-lined property. And after two rounds, some of the game’s biggest names, including Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Cameron Smith, will miss the weekend.
The cut came at even-par 142, with 71 players advancing to the third round.
Among those who made the cut on the number were past champions Graeme McDowell, Webb Simpson, Stewart Cink and Brian Gay.
World No. 6 Patrick Cantlay birdied his final four holes to take the lead at 9 under.
“I definitely wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again.”
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Onward.
That’s Morgan Hoffmann’s mindset following his return to the PGA Tour this week in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Playing for the first time in 923 days, Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 2017, likely missed the cut with rounds of 71-72 but proved to himself he belonged.
“I feel solid. Excited to play again,” he said after his round. “I don’t know when that will be. I’m excited about the progress. I definitely wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again. I know that I can and just need to sharpen up.
“My short game was pretty bad. I actually came into the week with my short game feeling solid. I don’t know, caught some weird lies and just didn’t really hit my spots. Putting had a lot of lips out there, and my irons can improve a lot out there.
“I knew I had a chance at least to make the cut, but it happens.”
Playing on a medical exemption, Hoffmann has two more starts to secure playing privlidges for the rest of the season. He is hoping to play in the Wells Fargo Championship in three weeks. The tournament has relocated from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, to TPC Potomac at Avenal Farm in Potomac, Maryland, as the Presidents Cup is being played at Quail Hollow in September.
“I really like that course,” he said. “I saw they did some changes. I want to play these three starts I have somewhat soon so I can continue playing the rest of the year and hopefully get my card for next year.
“If the Tour doesn’t have an opposite field event, I’d play probably a couple Korn Ferry events. Just depends on where my status is.”
Hoffmann, whose search for alternative treatments for his incurable disease took him around the world and led to his present home in the mountains and jungles of Costa Rica, will stay in Jupiter, Florida, while his home is being renovated.
He’ll continue to hone his game – especially his long game that he thinks he can cure with more repetitions – and look forward to raising more awareness that non-conventional treatments can help people in search of improving health. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy. The two’s goal is to build a wellness center in Costa Rica, tentatively called Nekawa, which is awaken backward.
“What surprised me the most (this week) was how pure this course was and just how pure PGA Tour events are and how awesome the camaraderie and welcoming back was,” he said. “The support was amazing. I felt very grateful.
“It was really special. I’m just happy to be back out.”
“When you’re on the golf course, it’s time to compete.”
The story of Morgan Hoffmann’s return to competitive golf dominated the early storyline at the RBC Heritage. In his first PGA Tour appearance in 2 ½ years, Hoffmann fired an even-par 71 on Harbour Town Golf Links, showing few ill effects of the Muscular Dystrophy he was diagnosed with five years ago.
But while his colleagues on the Tour were happy to see the former Oklahoma State star and former No. 1 amateur in the world back in action, once the first shot was played any tenderness was quick to wear off.
In fact, playing partner Harold Varner III, fresh off a top-25 finish in his Masters debut, shed light on the cutthroat mentality Tour players need to maintain. Varner was asked if he noticed any changes in Hoffmann’s swing since he’d last seen him play.
The answer was vintage and unedited HV3.
“I did not, but I’m not a very aware person, never have been. I’m out there to beat Morgan.” Varner said. “I don’t really care. … I get that he’s been through a lot, but everyone on this planet’s going to go through something, and that’s his battle. My battle may come down the road later.
“When you’re on the golf course, it’s time to compete. I want to win. I don’t know. That’s kind of messed up, but it is what it is.”
Varner, who fired a 67, also said he was glad to see Hoffmann and added that the former Walker Cupper still has game. When asked about Hoffmann lagging behind the group off the tee, Varner added that he’s not worried since Hoffmann — whose best finish on Tour was a T-2 at the Honda Classic in 2017 — used precision iron play to stay in the hunt.
“He hit his 5 iron close to where I hit my 8-iron, so I don’t think it really mattered. If you were watching the whole round, I know on No. 3, I outdrove him by 30 yards, but he hit it to four feet and I’m sitting there at 20, 25 feet,” Varner said of Hoffmann.
“That’s what makes the game so beautiful. He knows how to hone in on what he needs to do to play well.”
There were no signs of Hoffman’s battle against an incurable disease.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – If one didn’t know the fascinating tale of Morgan Hoffmann, he or she would have had no idea watching him play golf in Thursday’s first round of the RBC Heritage that he was diagnosed in 2017 with muscular dystrophy.
They would have seen no hints that the disease had savagely attacked the former muscle-bound, world No. 1 amateur’s body and sent him worldwide in search of alternative cures involving non-conventional and ancient treatments, a journey that led to his current residence in the jungles and mountains of Costa Rica, where he lives with his wife, three dogs, two cats and healthy doses of peace and purpose.
That some of the healing choices along the way included urine therapy, a diet of hundreds of grapes per day, potent hallucinogens – and plenty of meditation and surfing.
No, there were no signs of his daily battle against an incurable disease. Instead, they saw a happy, healthier Hoffmann fire an even-par 71 on Harbour Town Golf Links in his first action on the PGA Tour in 923 days.
Morgan Hoffmann plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the 2022 RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
In his remarkable return, he had three birdies and three bogeys, at one time reaching 2 under. He’s still regaining more strength – he averaged 275 yards on the measured holes. He split the fairway on the first hole with his first shot and hit 80 percent of the fairways on the tight course he adores.
Ahead of his first round, he said he felt like a 12-year-old playing an AJGA event, that he just hoped to have fun and smile a lot. Mission accomplished.
“A lot of fun moments today,” he said. “I felt great. The first tee shot wasn’t as nerve-racking as I thought it would be. The game didn’t feel anywhere near as bad as I thought it was, so it was pretty exciting.
“I didn’t have really any goals of a score, I guess, per se, but I was just trying to hit it solid. I mean, 80 percent of (the shots) were decent enough. So I hit some balls on the range after, and I think I should have a good round tomorrow.”
Harold Varner III, who shot 67, played with Hoffmann and said he’s “still good at golf. It’s like riding a bike. Obviously it’s going to take a while to get the rust off, but it’s just good to see him.”
Hoffmann is playing on a medical exemption and has three starts to regain full playing status for the rest of the season. But right now he’s focused on Friday.
“I’m going to go kind of by the seat of my pants on this one, hoping that I play well. If I don’t get my card back in the three starts, hopefully get some sponsor’s exemptions for the rest of the year,” Hoffmann said. “If I don’t get sponsor’s exemptions, probably try to Monday (qualify) in a few.”
Hoffmann is eight shots behind pace-setting Cameron Young, who shot a bogey-free 63. Joaquin Niemann is at 65. Six players – Patrick Cantlay, Graeme McDowell, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Miro Pereira and Corey Conners – are at 66. Conners punctuated his round with an ace on the seventh hole – a 7-iron from 187 yards. It was his fourth ace in the past three seasons, the most of any player.
As for Hoffman, he isn’t back just to play golf. He hopes to raise awareness that non-conventional treatments can help people in search of improving health, that there are many paths to getting better. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy. Their goal is to build a wellness center in Costa Rica, tentatively called Nekawa, which is awaken spelled backward.
“It was pretty surreal today, a lot different than the lifestyle I’ve been living the last 2½ years, and having people cheer your name out there, it’s very special,” he said. “Having the support and the media and getting that kind of focus on what we’re trying to build, the natural health and wellness center in Costa Rica, it’s going to be great. I’m really excited about the outcome and the building process.”
He’s excited about his game, too. He loves how he’s putting but knows he needs to get longer – repetitions will help in that area.
“I love this game so much,” he said. “It’s so difficult. I had a great time out there. I think the game’s closer than I thought, and it’s exciting. I’m pumped.”
“I think I have been put in this position for a reason and I just want to help people believe in themselves.”
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Morgan Hoffmann has been on a journey unlike any other from the day in 2017 he learned he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. From treks the world over searching for alternative cures involving non-Western and ancient treatments, to his current residence with a view of the ocean but no windows or doors in the mountains and jungles of Costa Rica, to back to the PGA Tour with his former fellow peers.
Along the way, with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy deteriorating his patience and ravaging his body, the former muscle-bound World No. 1 amateur who turned pro in 2011 ate 800 grapes per day for 17 days, went through urine therapy that included using his excretion as mouth wash when he spent 90 days in Nepal, and spent four days absorbing an ancient mishmash that contained the potent hallucinogen DMT.
“On paper it’s definitely interesting, it’s a crazy story, for sure,” the 32-year-old said Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s start of the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links. It will be his first action on the PGA Tour since the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open.
“Any athlete in this position or anybody with a drive for health would do something similar as well and I don’t think I’m special in any way. I think I have been put in this position for a reason and I just want to help people believe in themselves and get through really anything that they’re going through.”
Hoffmann’s tale was reported recently in a fascinating piece by Golf Digest. But it’s an account that deserves to be retold many times over. And with his improved health, the latest chapter in his story involves golf again.
“I knew that golf has always been something that I love and I wanted it to be fun again,” he said. “And I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself and I think that’s why on Tour previous to this was the reason why I didn’t reach my potential, at least in my mind. So I just wanted the main goal when I came back to be fun.”
Hoffmann said since he left Nepal about three years ago, his body has slowly gotten stronger. While his swing speed continues to gradually improve, he has been in the states for the past 10 days honing his skills.
“There hasn’t been any more atrophy, which has been amazing,” Hoffmann said. “And now, my right pec was the worst, it just, it kind of got down to my ribs, where all you could see is bone, and now like when I put my hand here and I flex, I can feel it again, which is pretty cool. It’s been improving slowly and now I’m in kind of the testing process of pushing it back in the gym again to see how hard I can go. I’m back in the gym every day and getting stronger. It feels really solid.
“I’m being subdued to the excitement of seeing muscle firing again right now.
For the most part, his days have been a success since he moved to Costa Rica in 2020 where he and his wife, Chelsea, live with three dogs and two cats. Daily meditation and surfing are often on his agenda – he let his hair out and resembled Jeff Spicoli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” He’s at peace and cherishes his soul-searching exploration to discover what makes him feel better fighting an incurable disease.
In 2017, he and his wife established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy. The two’s goal is to build a wellness center in Costa Rica, tentatively called Nekawa, which is awaken backward. The cost, he estimated, would be around $1 million; Hoffmann earned $6 million on the Tour, plus sponsorship money, and currently has other investments.
“Now that I’m having some success with my health I can show people who are interested and who have questions on what I’ve done to heal something that has been deemed incurable,” Hoffmann said. “How to do it naturally and I think there’s many paths to health and it’s really exciting to give that advice to someone and not just say, oh, there’s just this one way. Because I found there’s so many.”
His mind, however, is on the task at hand this week in the RBC Heritage. He was aiming to return for the Honda Classic in February, but on the way to the gym in Costa Rica in December, he crashed his motorcycle on his steep driveway and wrecked his shoulder and cracked two ribs. But he’s healthy again and back on the PGA Tour.
“I’ve been telling everybody I feel like a little 12-year-old kid again playing an AJGA (event) out here,” he said after his practice round at Harbor Town. “Just playing this course is very euphoric for me. It’s one of my favorite courses in the world; you got to be very creative around it and my game is the creative type.”
And what does he expect?
“Some smiles,” he said. “Some golf on a beautiful course. That’s really about it. I’ve been practicing hard and my game actually feels pretty solid. I have a great caddie on the bag this week and my clubs are dialed in, so I feel good. I don’t really know. Obviously, you come to tournaments to win and I’ve never done that before, so might as well shoot for the stars, right?”
