Long time coming: Tumor survivor Demsey ready to try TOUR again

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HONOLULU -- The surgery was performed just 24 days after his wedding.

Demsey: "I still get upset when I don't play well, but it's not life or death. I think I have things in better perspective now." (WireImage)

Todd Demsey points to a spot just over his left ear and makes an arc toward his forehead, tracing the path of the incision. During the seven-hour procedure, called a craniotomy, doctors removed a piece of his skull so they could extract a benign brain tumor.

Dempsey discussed the 2003 surgery -- the first of two, actually -- almost matter-of-factly as he looked out at the Pacific Ocean from a room in the clubhouse at Waialae Country Club where he would play in the Sony Open in Hawaii later this week.

His road back to the PGA TOUR has taken more than a decade and added a large dose of perspective to Demsey's life. He's a father now, with a second child on the way, and he knows how fortunate he is to play golf for a living.

"Yeah, everything's taken a turn for the better after a tough few years there with my health and everything," Demsey said. "We have an 18 month old girl and a boy on the way. Everybody's doing well. I got my card back, so there are a lot of good things going on right now. So I just hope I can capitalize on it and have a good year."

And if anyone is due a good year, it's Demsey.

He missed the 2001 season with a chronic back problem that was misdiagnosed as a bulging disk. Turns out, the injury was muscular and the right combination of daily exercises have enabled the former Arizona State All-American to play again.

"The back probably was more debilitating than even the brain tumor," said Demsey, who now calls 2001 a "wasted" year. "I fought it all through college, and all until about 2001, which is when finally it just worked itself out.

"I think I went about a year without playing golf. And that's probably been the thing that's hurt me the most is taking that much time off it's taken me until about now to really get my game completely back."

Not to say that the brain tumor, diagnosed in 2002, was a piece of cake, though.

Demsey originally thought he had a sinus infection. Doctors eventually diagnosed a fifth nerve schwannoma -- Demsey spells the word easily, without missing a beat -- and planned surgery.

Demsey is a veteran of nearly 200 Nationwide Tour events. (WireImage)

Left alone, worst case scenario, the tumor could have blocked the artery that supplies blood to the brain and eventually been fatal. Since the tumor was benign and slow-growing, though, Demsey was able to wait a year before having surgery. He made the decision because he didn't want to be away from golf for 15-18 months and the back injury already had kept him from playing in 2001.

While he describes his emotions upon hearing the diagnosis as a "nightmare, shock, scared and sad," Demsey adds, "I always felt we were going to get through it OK." At the same time, he'll tell you, there was a five percent chance of dying during the operation or paralysis.

"Anytime you open the skull, it's risky," Demsey said. "I was obviously scared, but I was more concerned for my family, than myself. Strange how that is."

In the weeks immediately following the operation, golf was the furthest thing from Demsey's mind. He was too busy trying to manage the pain, icing his head to reduce the swelling and "trying to get through the day."

"I was worried when I sent to hit balls the first time," Demsey said. "It hurt my head to hit the ball at impact. Been taking swings and feeling good. [The] shock of hit the ball was very painful. Concerned for a week or so."

After a month or so, Demsey began hitting a few chip shots in the backyard. The first time he hit balls at the range, though, his head hurt at impact, and the pain lasted for about a week. He was finally able to play a tournament in late April and missed the cut, then turned in a tie for 27th and solo seventh in his next two starts.

"I found that I really hadn't lost much," said Demsey, who went on to play in 22 Nationwide Tour events and earn more than $100,000 that year. "I didn't have any side effects."

Demsey earned his way back onto the PGA TOUR by firing a 64 in the final round of q-school a month ago. He took several weeks off after that eighth-place finish, then started practicing in earnest last week.

An MRI two days after Q-school was over revealed that the tumor had returned, though. Demsey says the worst case scenario this time, though, involves radiation and not surgery so he can get on with his life -- and job on the PGA TOUR.

"I am definitely smarter (now)," said Demsey, who was a teammate of Phil Mickelson's at Arizona State. "I'm not as reactive. I can accept bad shots better; accept bad holes. I'm just more patient -- that's probably the main thing. ... I still get upset when I don't play well, but it's not life or death. I think I have things in better perspective now.

"When I first got my card in '97 kind of took it for granted. Now I realize what a great opportunity it is -- what a great place the PGA TOUR is. I think I'm definitely better prepared for it and more ready and excited than I was the first time."