Richard Bland believed he got it rather easily. Compared to his brother, Heath, who is battling cancer, hitting a golf ball for 54 or 72 holes is a walk in the park. The Englishman in a more recent podcast accepted that watching his brother suffer was too much to bear at times. But Bland has found a source of inspiration in his LIV Golf teammate, Charl Schwartzel.

Schwartzel’s wife, Rosalind, was diagnosed with breast cancer early this year. Both know the pain of watching a close one suffer from cancer up close. “I know Charl Schwartzel’s wife is going through it as well. So you know, me and Charles we, we, you know, we talk about it… we’ve kind of got that little tiny connection.”

They both understand what it entails: piles of tablets with morning tea, grimacing in pain, and then braving through it all. Week in, week out. And the pills, Bland said, can’t be swallowed in one go. 

The 51-year-old conceded that if he were in his brother’s place, he might have just caved in. “I would have, if I was probably in his shoes, I (would have) given up months ago. But he just, I don’t know, he just… he’s just like I said (never complains). If I had half the fight in me of what he’s got, you know, I’d win by 10 every week,” the Englishman admitted in the Fairway to Heaven podcast.

The Cleeks GC player dedicated his first senior major to his brother. After winning the Senior U.S. Open, his second victory on the Champions Tour in as many starts, Richard Bland revealed he had given the Senior PGA Championship trophy replica to Heath.

It’s tougher than golf, as Richard Bland said a few months ago. Hitting a Titleist Pro V1 is far easier than the weakness and nausea that follow chemotherapy. Charl Schwartzel agreed.

“Sport can provide great opportunities to make people aware of these sorts of things, but it’s just something that you do as a living. The breast cancer diagnosis is real life; it’s real life,” said the former Masters champion from Adelaide. He and his Stinger GC team shaved their heads to raise breast cancer awareness.

While the two LIV Golf pros are fighting, a handful of current and former golfers have battled cancer and won. They have also made a comeback to the professional arena after beating cancer. 

Golf pros who kicked out cancer to make a comeback

John Daly, Joel Dahmen, and Paul Azinger all have something in common. All three, in various stages of their careers, were faced with a formidable opponent. In 2020, doctors diagnosed bladder cancer in John Daly. The two-time major champion told Golf Channel that he underwent surgery, but there is a chance of recurrence. Daly, however, continues to play for the PGA Tour Champions.

Dahmen lost his mother to cancer, and then his brother was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Just two years after that and a year after turning pro, he was also diagnosed with testicular cancer. Dahmen won his fight, as did his brother. The Clarkston-born star earned his PGA Tour card and then won the 2021 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, a decade after his fight against cancer. 

Paul Azinger, on the other hand, had lymphoma on his shoulder when he was still at the peak of his career. Azinger returned to the greens, playing for a decade afterward. 

Richard Bland’s brother is expected to go through surgery soon. Word is Heath might be present when LIV Golf stops at the Centurion Club in London. The golf world is rooting for the Bland brothers.