By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

After receiving a successful bone marrow transplant, Jarrod Lyle is hoping to return to the PGA TOUR in 2014.

“I do want to get back to golf at some stage but I guess if I never hit another shot I'll be happy,” Lyle told the AAP, Australia’s national news agency, on Tuesday. “As long as I've got my health and as long as I've got my family with me I'm a happy boy.”

The 31-year-old Lyle was diagnosed with leukemia in March. He underwent treatment shortly after the birth of his daughter Lusi.

It is the second time Lyle has had to battle cancer after being diagnosed with the disease as a 17-year-old.

Since receiving the news earlier this year, Lyle has undergone chemotherapy, received a transplant of donor blood from umbilical cords and is making a strong recovery back in his native Australia.

“Going through the chemo and the transplant and all that was nothing compared to realizing that I only had 12 hours with my brand new daughter,” said Lyle, who briefly postponed treatment in order to spend time with the first child for he and wife Briony. “It was probably the hardest moment of my life.”

Whenever Lyle does return to competitive golf, he will be granted a medical exemption on the PGA TOUR.

Lyle last played in late February at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, where he tied for 37th. In seven starts, he earned just over $363,000 with one top 10, a tie for fourth at the Northern Trust Open.

Reaction to the news that the leukemia Jarrod Lyle battled as a teenager has returned was swift through the PGA TOUR family.

Lyle's peers took to Twitter to send their good wishes for a successful battle with the disease. He is in Australia, where his wife Briony is due to deliver their first child this weekend. He will undergo an intensive course of chemotherapy and doctors are searching for a bone marrow donor.

Click here to read more about Lyle's battle. You can add your own comments at the end of this post.

@ErikCompton Sad to hear about Jarrod Lyle having to go through tuff times again. we all love you and know you and you family will beat this again.

@wheatiePGA Sending great thoughts and strength to Jarrod Lyle and his wife on his second battle with cancer. Keep your incredible spirit! #fighton

@IanJamesPoulter We are hoping Jarod Lyle makes a full and speedy recover y, best wishes to him & his wife they are expecting their first child soon as well.

@ArjunAtwal My thoughts and prayers with jarrod Lyle.. Stay tough bud..we are all thinking of you and can't wait to see you back on tour

@DJohnsonPGA Good morning!! Happy Friday!! Today is a new day - but my condolences go out to Jarrod Lyle and his family while he fights leukemia #support

@Brendan_Steele Thoughts and love Jarrod Lyle. One of the great guys in the world. You have all our support to beat this thing.

@DAPoints I am very sad to hear about Jarod Lyle's leukemia returning! I wish him the best and hope he and his wife have a healthy baby! #inmyprayers

@BrendanTodd Prayers go out to #jarrodlyle and his wife this week as they welcome their baby and deal with his recurrence of Leukemia! #staystrong

@ColtKnost Just heard the news about @jarrod_lyle. Hang in there big guy! Hope to see u soon.

@aussieallenby My heart goes out to my mate , great golfer Jarod Lyle , new baby coming tomorro & big fight at Cancer again !!

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Nick Watney became the second player to withdraw from the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Tuesday.

Watney, who is sick, was replaced in the field by Jarrod Lyle. If you’ll remember, Lyle had an ace at the 16th hole in the tournament last year.

The first alternate is now Ken Duke.

CLICK HERE FOR SHOT OF THE YEAR ARCHIVE/SCHEDULE

Through Dec. 15, PGATOUR.COM will unveil its list of the top 10 shots of 2011. We’ll roll out one shot a day, including today's No. 9: Jarrod Lyle's crowd-pleasing ace at vaunted 16th at the Waste Management Open.

Check out the video and tell us what you think of the shot. If you were there to watch us, let us know what memories you have of the shot.

Tiger Woods is 5 under through nine holes in his second round at the Australian Open, moving into the lead at 9 under par, two shots ahead of Presidents Cup teammate Nick Watney and Australian Jarrod Lyle.

Woods has yet to make a bogey in two days at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney. He has five birdies in nine holes in Round 2, though he birdied only one of three par-5s.

Aussie Jason Day also has a good round going in early action, 3 under through nine holes to get to 6 under for the event.

Two of the top five finishers at The Honda Classic -- winner Rory Sabbatini and Tommy Gainey, who claimed solo fifth -- were playing for the eighth consecutive week on the PGA TOUR.

They weren't alone. Among players who have earned FedExCup points, seven have played in every full-field event this season. Joining Sabbatini and Gainey are Spencer Levin, William McGirt, Jarrod Lyle, Chad Collins and Josh Teater.

Call them the Ironmen of 2011.

An eighth player, Matt Bettencourt, also has made eight starts. But unlike the other seven, he qualified for the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in early January. Bettencourt took the week off two weeks ago before returning to play the Honda Classic.

Sabbatini said Sunday night after his one-stroke win at PGA National that he will actually be playing 10 consecutive weeks. He plans to play at this week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and then the following week at the Transitions Championship.

After that?

"I think we might have to do a little conversing as to whether or not we are going to continue on to Bay Hill," he said. "My wife made me promise her that when I won, I'd take some time off."

Players usually don't play that many consecutive weeks for fear of getting worn out -- both physically and emotionally. But Sabbatini said he felt like his game was headed in the right direction and he wanted to continue building on the momentum rather than take a week off to rest.

"I felt like something good was going to happen," he said. "I guess if you flip a coin enough times, you are eventually going to end on the right side."

Gainey has two top-10 finishes in his last five starts and seems to be much closer in claiming the first TOUR win of his career. He was originally scheduled in the field at the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com but withdrew late Monday morning.

Teater is scheduled to compete in Puerto Rico this week, leaving he and Sabbatini as the last Ironmen standing.

PLAYING EIGHT CONSECUTIVE WEEKS
These players have played every week on TOUR starting with the Sony Open in Hawaii, the first full-field event of 2011:

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – So far this year, Mark Wilson has won every other week he’s played – starting with the Sony Open in Hawaii.

So given past history it should come as no surprise to see the FedExCup leader in contention early at the Northern Trust Open. After all, this is Wilson’s second start since he picked up his second win of the season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Wilson started on the front nine Thursday and bogeyed his first hole. He’s made three birdies since – sinking putts of 12, 15 and 11 feet – to move to 2 under through 14 holes.

Jarrod Lyle, John Senden and Martin Laird are currently setting the pace at 4 under. – Helen Ross

Mark Wilson has 52-degree and 60-degree Ping Tour-W wedges in his bag. With two wins in his first three starts this year, he's obviously feeling good about his equipment.

"Ping has been really good with me working with my wedges trying to dial in the grooves just right," Wilson said after winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open. "I spin the ball more than most guys, so the whole groove thing last year was supposed to be good for me, but I still was spinning it back too much from the fairway. So Ping has been working with me good. I've got some good equipment now." ...

Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia will be in Manhattan on Tuesday for the NYC WhiteOut at a custom-built driving range on 54th and Lexington. They will be using TaylorMade's new R11 and Burner SuperFast 2.0 white drivers to benefit Operation Game On, a charity to help raise money for wounded veterans. TaylorMade and Golfsmith are combining on the event. The first 500 people at the event will receive a free R11 hat, and 10 R11 drivers will be given away as prizes.

Sergio’s R11 driver, by the way, has 9 degrees of loft with a Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana 73-X shaft ...

Geoff Ogilvy used a Scotty Cameron R&D Concept 1 putter during the Waste Management Phoenix Open, reports GolfWorld magazine. "The blade-style putter features heel and toe weights as well as the 'Tour Rat' logo engraved on the sole," the magazine noted in its Feb. 16 edition. 

Ogilvy also has tested a Titleist 910F 5-wood, although for now, the Cobra S9-1 remains as the fairway wood in his bag, reports Golf.com's David Dusek. "I'm not after length, really," Ogilvy told Dusek while testing the 910F at the Titleist Performance Insitute. "You're after versatility. In this day and age, having a wood you can hit out of the rough is pretty important." …

Golfweek's James Achenbach writes: "While most TaylorMade players are using the company’s new Tour Preferred forged MB or MC irons, Sean O’Hair has switched to the Tour Preferred forged CB irons (3-9). The CB irons have many game-improvement features and originally were earmarked for golfers with handicaps of 15 or better. O’Hair said he likes the ball flight, feel and forgiveness of the CB irons."

Dusek tweeted that O'Hair has also switched to a 9.5 degree TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 2.0. …

While shooting an opening 63 at TPC Scottsdale, Tommy Gainey said he "took a chunk out of my 56 (degree wedge) hitting off rocks." That forced him to put a new Cleveland wedge in his bag. Gainey was in contention for his first TOUR win until the 72nd hole. …

Jarrod Lyle used a Titleist MB 8-iron for his ace at the 16th at TPC Scottsdale. Brendan Steele used a Titleist MB 7-iron to ace the 12th hole. Both players used the Titleist Pro V1x ball. …

Luke Donald reports on his Twitter feed that he’s been testing Mizuno’s new MP T11 wedges. He plans to put the high-performance forged wedges in his bag for next week’s Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Last year, Donald led the PGA TOUR in sand-save percentage (66.39 percent) …

In a Q&A with Golf Digest, Ryan Moore said his decision to sign with Adams Golf at the end of the 2010 season was an easy one. "I've been playing their driver, a fairway wood and hybrids without getting paid for two years," he told the magazine.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Jarrod Lyle picked quite the place to make his first career ace when he holed an 8-iron at the 16th at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday, sending the game’s most crazed crowd into even more of a frenzy than normal.

"Of all the holes in the world to have a hole-in-one on, this is probably the best you can think of," Lyle said after he signed his scorecard. "I probably looked like a complete moron carrying on down there. But it's just one of those things. I think the crowd kind of spurs you on a little bit and I was trying to spur the crowd a little bit too to make it as loud as possible."

Lyle followed the flight of the ball closely and motioned with his hands for it to settle as it hit the green. When the ball went in the cup, the Aussie – wearing a green shirt and cap in honor of the “Green Out” festivities – thrust his arms into the air in jubilation.

"I thought it was going to fly a little bit too far up there," Lyle said. "But when it started bouncing, and when it bounced the second time and I thought this looks pretty close and then it disappeared and I'm like, holy hell, it's in.

"So I just carried on and cheered and screamed and I think I dropped a naughty word up there. I was just so excited I didn't realize the camera was about three feet in front of my face.  ... There might be a letter in my locker next week. I don't know."

As Lyle walked to the green, he gave the crowd – which was waving green towels in the air – a thumb’s up, pumping his right arm repeatedly. The ace took him to 4 under for the day and 5 under for the tournament, which is where he ended the second round.

The ace at the 150-yard hole was the eighth at the famed-16th hole at TPC Scottsdale: Lyle (R2-2011), Mike Sposa (T2-2002), Steve Stricker (R4-1999), Tiger Woods (R3-1999), Jay Delsing (R3-1991), David Edwards (R3-1990), Brad Bryant (R1-1990) and Hal Sutton (R3-1988). -- Helen Ross

Where does Lyle’s hole-in-one stack up? Take a look at the top 10 aces on the PGA TOUR by clicking here.