Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle dies at 36 after cancer battle

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died after a long struggle with cancer. He was 36.

“It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us,” the golfer’s wife, Briony Lyle, said in a statement Thursday. “He passed away peacefully at 8.20 p.m. last night having spent his final week among his family and close friends.”

Briony Lyle said her husband had asked her to pass on 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 leukemia as a teenager and suffered recurrences of the disease in 2012 and 2017.

He returned to the U.S. PGA Tour in 2013 after apparently having beaten cancer for a second time.

But the illness returned and Lyle last week announced his decision to forego further treatment and enter palliative care.

He was survived by Briony and daughters Lusi, 6, and Jemma, 2.

“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 throughout his life. Our humble thanks to you all.”

The family said a private family service would be held in the coming days with a public memorial service in Torquay, near Melbourne in Victoria state, at a later date.