Two-time PGA Tour winner John Senden has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Senden revealed at the Australian PGA Championship that he has been battling the disease over the last 18 months but he plans to keep competing on Tour for the foreseeable.
“I’ve got to stay in the gym, stay fit and stay open, because Parkinson’s wants to close you down, wants to make you feel a bit more depressed,” Senden told ABC Sport. “It doesn’t actually undermine my strength, it just sort of makes me feel a bit weird sometimes.
“I can be on the range warming up and feeling really good, but as soon as the anticipation of hitting the first shot or a difficult shot or even the name called on the first tee, all of a sudden my right arm starts shaking and I can’t control that sometimes … I sort of stretch it or trigger it or get some bigger movements to get through this. It’s not going to go away, but I’m still able to play and still enjoying golf.”
The 52-year-old Australian won PGA Tour titles at the 2006 John Deere Classic and 2014 Valspar Championship and made 481 career PGA Tour starts, with 125 top-25 finishes.
Senden played 19 events on PGA TOUR Champions this season; his lone top-25 finish came at the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS in October. He ranked No. 83 on the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings, after finishing No. 79 the year prior.
Senden narrowly missed the cut at Royal Queensland Golf Club this week as his compatriot Min Woo Lee earned his third DP World Tour win and second on Australian soil.
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