It was the year 2019. Taylor Moore was on his way to the airport to fly to a golf tournament when he felt a bit uneasy as his car came to a stop at a traffic light. The golfer had a choice to make. One: Go right and get himself checked out at a hospital. Or two; turn left to catch the flight. Curious about what he chose? Well, the athlete decided to go to the ER. Little did he know back then how this decision would save his life.

Golfers being faced with career-deciding choices on a course is natural. But for Moore, he was posed with a life-threatening one. And the decision he took ended up potentially saving his life. Now, back to the story. When the athlete reached the hospital, he was informed that his right lung had collapsed by around 50 percent, according to Golf Monthly.

The now 31-year-old pro was given immediate treatment and VATS surgery for the spontaneous pneumothorax, following which he got better. But the question of what actually happened makes us all curious. Moore himself divulged what the cause was four years later after he clinched his first PGA Tour win at the 2023 Valspar Championship.

“Essentially, I just had a collapsed lung twice,” revealed the athlete. “I got a stomach bug out in Scottsdale on our break after Sarasota and they said I threw up so violently it ruptured a lining in my lung and caused it to collapse. Kind of a freak deal obviously and (I) had to have surgery.” Fortunately enough, the procedure was a success, after which he was discharged from the hospital 10 days later.

If any of you think it was his bad luck that led him to have such a health scare, then Taylor Moore might disagree with you on that! “(It was) a little bit of a blessing in disguise overall,” said the pro after his first PGA Tour win in 2023. “It was tricky just because I wanted to get back out here so bad and play. But I had such a new perspective and was so refreshed, just mentally, after surgery.” Seems like the break from the sport helped him mentally prepare for the sport, allowing him to earn a PGA Tour card by 2021.

Taylor Moore earns a PGA Tour card after recovery

Back in 2021, the then-27-year-old golfer decided to make his efforts all worth it as he carded his maiden win on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a card onto the Jay Monahan-led circuit. The golfer carded a 27-under 257 while holding off Erik Barnes by three strokes at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS. And boy, was he happy!

“Been trying to get a win out here for four or five seasons, and to finally get it done means a lot,” conveyed the pro as he alluded to the win. “It’s even just icing on the cake for me that I locked up my first TOUR card as well. All in all, a great day. I had an awesome day out there, bogey-free did exactly what I wanted to do, and I was able to get it done.” Interestingly, he dished out a total of 26 birdies and 1 bogey, the last of which came on the second day of play. Meaning? He had three bogey-free rounds at the event. Quite impressive, one must add!

Anyhow, he sure made a remarkable comeback from the health scare that was the ruptured lung. “I’m just so lucky I made that decision to go to the hospital,” Taylor Moore had said back in 2023. Well, Mr. Moore, no one would disagree with you on that!