Return to routine, improved time management pays off for Lyle

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Read: Lyle dominates in Mexico | Video: Lyle's amazing cancer survivor story

In what should have been a most wonderful year, Jarrod Lyle, quite simply, was a dark shadow of his former self.

Picture a professional golfer from Australia trying to find his way as a rookie on the PGA TOUR -- without a smile; a heretofore happy-go-lucky guy who beat death by smirking at cancer and suddenly was beating himself up like he never had before.

Jarrod Lyle found his game and confidence at the Mexico Open presented by Corona. (Dadswell/Getty Images)

That defined Lyle, 27, who did a head-swimming 180 in just a few short months as a competitor in The Big Show. Such is life when your game and confidence cold-heartedly desert you, when you begin questioning your practice habits, when negative results force you to reach out for a golf lifeline, burning hundreds of cell phone minutes on call after call Down Under.

That was Lyle yesterday. Glum, out of sorts and perplexed.

Here is Lyle, in his second tour of duty on the Nationwide Tour, now. The once again affable Aussie is smiling his Cheshire cat smile. He is the tour's leading money winner, living large as the champion of the Mexico Open presented by Corona.

The victory south of the border was Lyle's first as he kicked off his fourth professional season in style. It also marked his second extremely positive result in two '08 starts -- this because he followed an early 180 in 2007 with another 180 later in the year. And while he failed to maintain his PGA TOUR playing privileges, he knew he would be on to something good this season. How he made the self-transformation makes for interesting reading.

Rewind to the start of Lyle's rookie season. He made five of his first seven starts and appeared to have the hang of what it takes to make it on the world's toughest tour. Then Lyle ran headlong into a brick wall. Six tournaments. Six missed cuts. Three months without a paycheck. Thousands of questions about what he was doing.

"I've always been one to have a bit of fun on the golf course,'' Lyle said. "But I became hard on myself.''

Lyle, who was never given to spending an inordinate time on the practice range, began beating balls, sometimes for more than two hours at a time. The harder he practiced, the farther his game slipped.

"It seemed like I spent more time practicing than playing,'' he said. "In the long run, it cost me a lot. I was searching for something I couldn't find. It began to affect me off the course as well and affect my relationship with my parents and my brother (Leighton, his caddy). I knew I had to snap out of it.''

So Lyle picked up the cell phone and began talking to his family, particularly his father John and mother Sally-Anne, his biggest supporters. He also chatted up a sports psychologist who suggested a method to make practice more fun.

On pro-am Wednesdays, Lyle would hit the range and begin. Leighton would open the yardage book to the first hole, and Jarrod would hit the shots required to safely navigate it. Then the brothers would do the same thing for the second and third and fourth until Jarrod had played an entire round.

Jarrod Lyle has his brother Leighton on the bag. (Cannon/Getty Images)

The simplistic approach worked wonders. Lyle's game improved. He made nine of his last 11 cuts. He built confidence despite the fact that he finished 164th on the money list, a position that dictated a trip to the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. He finished 47th, garnering full-time status on the Nationwide Tour. And he was back to his old self, someone who beat acute myeloid leukemia after being diagnosed when he was all of 17, someone who truly believes that every day he wakes up is a good day.

"Remember,'' Lyle, who has been cancer free for more than six years, said last week, "I didn't know if I was going to live or die.''

Lyle looked upon 2007 as a learning experience. Sure, he was disappointed he didn't maintain his playing privileges. But he embraced the opportunity the Nationwide Tour afforded him this season.

"I got pumped up about it,'' said Lyle, who finished 18th on the money list in 2006.

Excited, Lyle finished tied for sixth in the Movistar Panama Classic -- without his A game. Then he and his capital A game was on display in a near-perfect weekend in Mexico, where Lyle lapped the field by needing a mere 130 strokes over the final 36 holes.

"Everybody's first victory is special,'' said Lyle, who dedicated it to his loving and supportive family.

After the Nationwide Tour takes a week off, Lyle will return to his part of the world as a champion riding a wave of momentum.

"I can't wait to get back to New Zealand and Australia,'' he said. "I like the golf course in Christchurch, and I was runner-up there two years ago, so I've some success there. I can't wait to get back to Australia, so I can celebrate this win with my family and friends.''