{"id":454428,"date":"2026-02-07T12:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454428\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T12:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:10:16","slug":"korn-ferry-tour-star-brendan-valdes-taking-break-from-golf-following-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454428\/","title":{"rendered":"Korn Ferry Tour star Brendan Valdes taking break from golf following cancer diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ZKOIZN7ODNG2THCQV7UCORRQDE\">Pro golfer Brendan Valdes, who is a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, is taking a break from competing after being diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"D74RMOZC2VFOVG7JDCHGNYCDGQ\">Valdes recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUEQBEFCeic\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUEQBEFCeic\/?hl=en\">revealed<\/a> the heartbreaking news in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"V2VXCGED6JAILCJT44V54RBPN4\">\u201cLife, like golf, is often unpredictable,\u201d Brendan Valdes said. \u201cA month ago, I was preparing for the start of my first full season on the Korn Ferry Tour when, during a medical exam, a mass was discovered in my chest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FET45Z2GJFDK3FRQQU7DYI4VDY\">\u201cI was diagnosed with primary mediastinal lymphoma, requiring me to step away from the Korn Ferry Tour while I undergo treatment. 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<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"BRPXYQC3SJENBFM4YQQ7NYFTFA\">Valdes, 22, starred at Auburn before turning pro, helping the Tigers win the 2024 national championship. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"6XIYZF7QIJFDZP7THD2S7C3BR4\">A three-time All-American, he competed in 11 Korn Ferry Tour and three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/topic\/pga%20tour\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/topic\/pga%20tour\/index.html\">PGA Tour<\/a> events in 2025. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"K47GXAGAZNH75MK7D7MS3F2SGI\">Valdes finished tied for third at the Korn Ferry Tour\u2019s Price Cutter Charity Championship last season and finished tied for 20th at the PGA Tour\u2019s 3M Open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"SZTU2TBU2VHL7NG76F2NN4DILI\">\u201cAs I prepare to face this challenge, I want to thank my sponsors, Callaway and Adidas, for being in my corner,\u201d Valdes 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"Z2DHJCC5OVEE7KGSPHD3MNKQOI\">\u201cMost importantly, I have endless gratitude for my team of doctors, my family and, most especially, my fiance Rachel. I\u2019m grateful for all the words of encouragement and I look forward to a return to competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pro golfer Brendan Valdes, who is a member of the Korn Ferry Tour, is taking a break from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-454428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}