To celebrate what would have been Jarrod Lyle’s 40^th birthday, Challenge and the PGA have asked Jarrod’s family, friends, colleagues, and the infinite people he influenced, to share their favourite stories of the affable Tour Professional.

I’ve known Jarrod for a long time because I grew up playing golf around Victoria.

I remember playing against him in Country Week when he would have been about 19. 

In 2003 I gave up on my dream of being a golf pro and I moved to the US to become a professional caddy.

Over there I came to know Jarrod even better amongst the group of Aussie players and caddies who were all living and working on Tour. 

I caddied full-time for Jarrod for about a year in 2010 and 2011, which included the time at the Phoenix Open when he got his hole in one. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget.

Our second round on Friday had been suspended due to bad weather, so we had to re-start on Saturday morning. 

We got to the 16^th at about 9.30am. Even at that early hour the ‘Party Hole’ stands were well over half full (it holds about 30,000 people) and Saturday is by far the biggest day of the week on the 16^th. 

The pin was front left, which is probably the hardest position because anything that lands left of the hole will end up off the green and leave a really tough up and down. 

Jarrod was between clubs with the distance that day and ended up playing a little 8 because of the cold.

I remember he was telling it to sit after he hit it, but to me it looked great in the air. It took one big bounce, spun to the left, and went in. 

The whole place erupted! I’ve never heard anything like it – it was so loud. 

I had friends in the clubhouse at the time, which is at least 500 metres away, and they couldn’t believe how loud it was! 

The Big Fella started waving his arms around, full of excitement, and high fived everyone on the tee. 

It’s by far one of my favourite experiences on Tour, and to share that moment with Jarrod was incredible. 

I’m so glad he got to experience something like that, and I’m even happier to know the footage is out there so we can all remember him at such an amazing moment. 

When I got a call from Jarrod in 2014 to ask if I’d be his caddy for his first Web.com event after beating cancer for the second time, I couldn’t say ‘yes’ quick enough. 

I was working for Justin Thomas at the time, and he wasn’t scheduled to play for a couple of weeks.

 He knew all about Jarrod’s story and was a huge supporter of me carrying Jarrod’s bag. So I clicked my heels together and headed to Kansas.

What a week it turned out to be. Obviously there was a lot of great attention on Jarrod as the media was telling his story and celebrating his return, but it went from being a ‘feel good’ story and a fun walk between two mates to him putting himself in contention to win the event. Typical Jarrod – not letting anything be an obstacle!

It was clear at the start of the week that he hadn’t regained all of this previous physical strength, so we adjusted his game to suit his strength, which was ball striking. 

Of course he went one better and shot a bogey-free four under in the first round, which probably surprised him more than anyone else. He kept his great form all week.

We basically laughed and talked crap all the way around and, in typical Jarrod fashion, if he hit a bad shot he just handed me the club and off we went to find the ball. I remember him saying on a short par 4 “Well mate, we can make a two and try to win, or lay it up to be safe.” 

This was followed straight away by “Shorty, we aren’t here for a hair cut!” and out came his driver. 

We finished 11^th that week, but he gave himself several chances to win and it was exactly what he needed to get back out there. It was probably one of the best weeks I’ve had on tour. 

Just to see him back on the range was emotional, let alone out on the course. 

It was such a privilege to see a good mate get back out there again, doing what he loved and what gave him so much joy and happiness. I was so lucky to have experienced that with him. I know he felt the support from everyone who was following him that week, and it probably inspired him to go that extra step because he wanted to make others happy more than himself. 

He was a guy who deserved way more than life handed him.

Mate, you’re really missed and we are worse off without you here. Thank you for having me stand with you that week. I will never forget it.

To find out more about Jarrod’s ongoing legacy as part of Challenge – supporting kids with cancer, head to challenge.org.au/jarrods-gift/

Jason Shortall was a professional caddy on the PGA Tour for 16 years.