{"id":440732,"date":"2026-01-29T11:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T11:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440732\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T11:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T11:32:09","slug":"korn-ferry-tour-pro-brendan-valdes-sidelined-after-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/440732\/","title":{"rendered":"Korn Ferry Tour pro Brendan Valdes sidelined after cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brendan Valdes\u2019 golf career has been put on hold.<\/p>\n

Valdes, who was entering his first full season on the Korn Ferry Tour, was recently diagnosed with primary mediastinal lymphoma and will take an indefinite leave from professional golf.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Valdes has already begun chemotherapy after discovering a mass in his chest last month. He will remain in Auburn, Alabama, where he played college golf, and continue his treatments under the direction of MD Anderson, considered one of the best cancer centers in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife, like golf, is often unpredictable,\u201d Valdes wrote on social media. \u201c\u2026 I have recently completed my first round of chemotherapy, and while a long journey lies ahead, my treatments should have me back on the golf course and completely healthy this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valdes starred at Auburn, where he was a three-time All-American, twice a first-teamer, and helped lead the Tigers to the 2024 NCAA Championship. He holds school records in career birdies (558), top-10s (25), rounds in the 60s (57) and subpar rounds (81). His 70.61 career scoring average ranks second all-time at Auburn, behind only Jackson Koivun, while he boasts three of the best 11 single-season scoring averages in program history.<\/p>\n

After finishing second in PGA Tour University, Valdes turned pro last June. He made only four of 11 cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour, but he was T-3 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship and T-13 at the Wichita Open. Combine that with three made cuts on the PGA Tour, including a T-20 at the 3M Open, and Valdes earned the most combined points between the two tours among PGA Tour U grads, which locked up his full KFT card for 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Valdes also has been a strong advocate for pediatric cancer research, stemming from the death of his friend, Ian Supra, who played water polo with Valdes\u2019 older sister, Bailey, in their native Orlando, Florida. Supra died of esophageal cancer in 2015, and few years later, Valdes launched a charity golf tournament to raise money for cancer research<\/a> in Supra\u2019s honor. The Brendan Valdes Charity Golf Scramble was held for the fifth time last December. Valdes has also volunteered for the Ian Supra Memorial Foundation\u2019s annual Christmas in July at Arnold Palmer Children\u2019s Hospital in Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo raise money for pediatric cancer, that means more than going out and playing well in a major or winning tournaments,\u201d Valdes said a couple years ago.<\/p>\n

Valdes\u2019 diagnosis comes after Valdes recently became engaged to current Auburn senior Rachel Gourley. Valdes proposed to Gourley on Dec. 22 at Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank my sponsors, Callaway and Adidas, for being in my corner,\u201d Valdes\u2019 note continued. \u201cI also want to thank the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour staff for their continuous support, as well as clarity around navigating my path back to competitive golf. Most importantly, I have endless gratitude for my team of doctors, my family and, most especially, my fianc\u00e9e Rachel. I\u2019m grateful for all the words of encouragement, and I look forward to a return to competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be back!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brendan Valdes\u2019 golf career has been put on hold. Valdes, who was entering his first full season on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-440732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}