Editor's Note: Instead of the weekly Casual Friday
column, the following story was written by Marty Henwood, who is
the Media Relations Director for the Canadian Tour.
HENDERSON,
Ky. -- You do not need a trophy or a winner's paycheck to be classified
a champion.
If love, compassion, heart and courage were measures used to define
a true winner, Jace Bugg would be winners in every sense of the word.
Too often covering golf, the word struggle is used as an anecdote.
A player is struggling with his putter; struggling with his irons;
struggling to make the cut; struggling to keep his card. The word is
used to convey the image of a player who is not at the top of his game.
But the word takes on a whole new meaning when you realize that Bugg,
one of the most-liked players on the Canadian Tour, is struggling for
his life. So insignificant is reading the break on a 40-foot downhill
putt when his own struggles include trying to garner enough energy
to get out of bed in the morning.
For the past six months, Bugg has battled acute mylogenous leukemia
(AML). These days, Bugg and his wife Misty are not worried about trivial
matters of missed cuts and putts.
A month from now, the Canadian Tour will be in Mexico for a pair
of events. Bugg will be receiving a bone marrow transplant. And with
it, a second chance at life.
"I can't tell you what it is like to win $100 million lottery, but
I can tell you Misty and I screamed when we were told we had a (bone
marrow) match," Bugg said. "For us, there will never be a better feeling
in the world."
On the golf course, Bugg has always been a prodigy of the game, a
focused, intense player who has all the tools to reach the PGA Tour.
The 1997 Kentucky Amateur of the Year advanced to the quarterfinals
of the U.S. Amateur that same season and, two seasons later, joined
the Canadian Tour.
His game and confidence grew with each tournament and hit a peak
on a warm winter day in Myrtle Beach, S.C., two years ago. Heading
into the final round of the Canadian Tour's South Carolina Challenge,
Bugg was seven shots off the lead but blistered Barefoot Resort's Davis
Love III layout for a course-record 9-under 63 to win by three strokes.
As usual, there by his side was Misty, the love of his life since
the ninth-grade, tears in her eyes as her husband hoisted the championship
trophy high above his head. Bugg later said that Misty, who was also
his caddy, kept him calm and focused. She was his strength when he
needed it that day. In as fairytale a scenario as imaginable, the two
were married a weeks after the Myrtle Beach triumph.
For the rest of 2001, Bugg put up the kind of numbers that clearly
established him as one of the heavyweights on the Canadian Tour: 10
of 14 cuts made, four top 10s, fourth place finish on the money list.
Needing a win at the season-ending Bayer Championship to finish atop
the Order of Merit, Bugg began the final round one shot back and then
went out to post a 9-under 62. Remarkably, he was passed when Jason
Bohn set a world best 13-under 58.
The 2002 season began innocently enough. After missing the cut at
the season-opening Texas Classic in Houston, Bugg admitted to having
problems with his right wrist, which were hurting his swing. Nothing
else seemed out of the ordinary. Bugg made two of the next three cuts,
but would finish no higher than 42nd.
The wrist continued to bother Bugg, but he continued on. A few weeks
later, he Monday qualified for the Nationwide Tour's Arkansas Classic,
earning one of the four available spots in a six-man playoff. Six days
later, following cortisone shots in his wrist to help ease the pain,
Bugg shot a final-round 65 for a come-from-behind win that earned him
$81,000 and guaranteed exempt status on the circuit through 2003. The
stage had been set for a lofty finish on the money list and automatic
promotion to the PGA Tour.
Bugg's dream was within reach.
Unfortunately, the tendonitis continued to give Bugg problems, but
also fever and shortness of breath became alarmingly frequent. Bugg
was thought be battling the flu bug, but the Buggs flew to Las Vegas
for consultation and treatment and, on Nov. 1, 2002, five days prior
to his 26th birthday, Jace was diagnosed with AML.
"Looking back, Jace's immune system was shutting down and he had
no blood cells to fight the wrist injury," Misty Bugg said. "We all
thought it was the flu, and I had no idea how sick he was. If we had
been aware of the symptoms (like we are now), we would have known.
This all happened so fast, you don't even realize it. When he was first
diagnosed, he was really bad off. As much as I hate to admit it, he
was looking death in the eye."
Always a popular couple during their stay on the Canadian Tour, they
would travel to events in a motor home to help save costs. With the
coach usually parked in the course parking lot, the Buggs often played
host to impromptu barbecues after the day's play was completed. Southern
hospitality, north of the border style.
Last October, just a few months after Buggs win in Arkansas, good
friend David Branshaw found himself in contention at the Nationwide
Tour's Gila River Classic in Phoenix. Bugg was in Vegas receiving treatment,
but had not yet been diagnosed with AML.
Branshaw, searching for his first pro win after a four-year stint
on the Canadian Tour, was a bundle of nerves after the third round
and spoke to Bugg by phone that evening and received a boost of confidence.
First thing Sunday morning, though, the Buggs drove six-plus hours
to Phoenix to see Branshaw claim his initial win.
At the trophy presentation, Branshaw, who had no idea his friends
would be there that day and could not hold back the tears as he was
interviewed on The Golf Channel. A few yards away, Jace and Misty wiped
away their own tears.
Ten days later, their world would be turned upside down.
There are 4.25 million potential donors listed in the National Bone
Marrow Registry. In other words, the population equivalent to the city
of Toronto. Once Bugg's condition was known and his DNA entered in
the Registry computer, a total of six potential matches came back.
Of those half-dozen, two turned out to be identical matches.
Two people out of 4.25 million.
Doctors will not disclose the identity of the donor, only to say
it is a 34-year-old woman from the United States. To the Buggs, the
woman is nothing short of an angel.
"This faith is something I get to live the rest of my life with,
and I am thankful for it," Bugg said. "I have been given the gift of
a second chance at life, and this has made me a better person. But
no matter how positive a person you are, you will have a tough time
going through something like this without faith. I receive my miracle
every day, and I live with the peace of knowing that."
For now, Bugg continues to adapt to a life that is so unknown to
him. No longer is a trek around a 7,000-yard golf course on a warm
day even an option. These days, Bugg is undergoing his fourth round
of chemotherapy, in the hopes of strengthening his body to the point
where he can take the transplant.
The average person has a white blood cell count between 4,000 and
10,000. Bugg's count hovers around the 300 mark. He has to wear a mask
every time he steps outside, although his energy level has increased
in recent weeks to the point he can now walk two-thirds of a mile.
When he returns home, his energy is sapped and, more times than not,
he needs to rest.
In a few short weeks, Bugg will undergo the transplant that will,
in essence, give him the chance to carry on with life.
"Everything in his entire genetic makeup is going to change, and
that tells you just how unique you are," Misty Bugg said. "God makes
each of us in our own unique way, and I think that makes every single
person special. We know this is going to be risky, but we also know
God's cure rate is 100 percent." Just one year ago, Bugg was at the
top of his game, a Canadian and Nationwide Tour champion, the PGA Tour
a top-10 finish away. These days, golf is the last thing on his of
his family's mind.
"Through all this, we have realized that golf isn't life," Misty
Bugg said. "If we don't make a 3-foot putt, the night isn't going to
be ruined. Every day is precious, and this has made us better people.
We have always been a good story, and now we want to share this with
everyone."
