Last week saw the end of the troubled Tokyo Olympics and many new champions and heroes were born.

Coincidently it coincided with the third anniversary of the death of one of my true champions and heroes.

Jarrod Lyle would have been 40 this week had his life not been tragically ended by a prolonged bout of acute myeloid leukaemia, a form of blood cancer.

He was only 17 years old when he was first diagnosed and his fight for life began.

After nine months at the Royal Children’s Hospital, he was in remission and able to return to the game he loved – golf.

After a successful amateur career, Jarrod turned professional in 2004 and that was the beginning of a friendship I treasure to this day.

In my role as Director of Tournaments for the Australasian Tour and having worked for the Tour prior to that, I have seen more than 2000 aspiring young golfers come and go.

Most I hardly remember … but Jarrod was different. He was a big man in every way.

His body shape was big, his smile was big, and his personality matched the rest of him – but his entrance to professional golf was also spectacular.

It was the Heineken Classic of 2005 when I first became aware of Jarrod.

From seemingly nowhere, this fresh-faced kid was at the top of the leaderboard.

I remember saying to Russell Swanson, former professional and now co-worker on the Tour, “Who the hell is Jarrod Lyle?”.

Keep in mind the Heineken was co-sponsored with the European Tour at the time and many of the world’s household names were in the field – Els, Stenson, Immelman and Montgomerie, as well as all of our Australian stars.

It didn’t take me long to find out and introduce myself. After rounds of 68, 66 and 66 on the famous Composite Course at Royal Melbourne, everyone was asking the same question.

In the end, a bogey on the 18^th hole in the final round cost the big fella a place in the playoff with Craig Parry and Nick O’Hern – but Jarrod had arrived and our friendship was born.

We all know his career from that point on. Success in Asia, two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour and several good years on the PGA Tour, but it was the man not the golfer that made Jarrod the loved person he was.

In 2012 Jarrod was cruelly struck down with a second bout of leukaemia and during his time in hospital I rang him on several occasions.

Never once did he want to talk about himself, although he never avoided a direct question and faced his dilemma with courage I have rarely seen elsewhere.

He was more interested in how my life was going, what was happening on Tour, etc.

Those months of being isolated from the world for fear of infection must have been hell for both him, Briony and little Lusi at the time.

I laugh when I think about how difficult Covid is making our lives now and remember what Jarrod must have been going through.

Finally in the November of 2013, he felt well enough to try to play again. It was the Australian Masters, once again at Royal Melbourne.

I sat down with him and did something I have rarely done before or since – I asked him who he would like to play with.

He chose Geoff Ogilvy and a friend of his from Zimbabwe who had played on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours, Brendon de Jonge.

I remember Adam Scott winning, but the real story was the comeback of the kid from Shepparton.

The emotion of that day was something I will never forget. The tee was surrounded, 10 deep with people all wanting Jarrod to do well.

For whatever reason, Jarrod’s story had captured the hearts of not only the Australian golfing public, but the country at large.

It was the lead story on all the news outlets.

As his turn to play arrived, I secured a spot on the rope line 50 metres down the fairway.

I looked at the man to my left and the woman to my right, both with tears streaming down their faces. That in turn started me.

Now I was lucky enough to be at St. Andrews when Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus played their last Opens.

I was also at Augusta when they played their last Masters. On both occasions, emotions ran very high with plenty of tears shed.

But that day at Royal Melbourne was the only time I’ve shed a tear at an Australian event.

What made it worse was, as Jarrod walked off the tee, he saw me. He walked over and said one word, “Gotcha”.

He didn’t win, but no one expected him to. He made the cut on guts alone which surprised no one.

I have never seen the Australian public react to someone making the cut like they did for Jarrod Lyle that day.

What are my fondest memories of Jarrod Lyle?

• The Heineken of 2005

• His hole-in-one at Phoenix in front of what sounded like a billion people.

• Leading the Australian Open after day one at The Lakes in 2011 with a 65, with all the members of the Presidents Cup teams playing including Tiger, Mickelson, etc.

• When things got tough, he was the first to put up his hand to serve on the National Disciplinary Committee – he loved the game itself and would always do what was asked of him.

• His comeback at Royal Melbourne and the PGA Tour.

• The respect he had from the world’s greatest players when they all wore yellow ribbons on his passing.

Jarrod would have been 40 this week. He and his family were robbed of that.

The work that he and Briony have done for children with cancer will, however, never be forgotten.

Leuk the Duck is synonymous with the Lyle family and the millions of dollars raised in that name has assisted thousands of cancer sufferers and their families.

His name will live forever.

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

Andrew Langford-Jones is the former Tournaments Director at the PGA Tour of Australasia.