In the span of 11 days last summer, Troy Merritt went from on the top of the world in his golf game to wondering if he would ever swing a club in competition again. For good measure, he then voluntarily had a body part removed.
Merritt comes to this week's 3M Open in Blaine not yet fully back to playing shape but on track to compete in 20 events this PGA Tour season.
Not too long ago that seemed rather far-fetched.
Despite a nagging tingling sensation in his left hand, Merritt won the rain-delayed Barbasol Championship last July 23, a soggy Monday finish that nabbed him a $630,000 payday, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in the PGA Championship at Bellerive. After posing for trophy shots, the former Spring Lake Park High School athlete hopped a flight to Ontario as a two-time winner on tour and six days later tied for 50th in the RBC Canadian Open.
By the time he signed his Sunday scorecard the tingling had intensified to full-on pain. A few days after arriving back home in Idaho, Merritt's left arm was purple from shoulder to hand and swollen to twice its normal size.
Now as an established tour player, Merritt feared what he might hear about his suddenly damaged left arm.
After some prodding from his wife, he decided it was time to see a doctor. He prepared for the worst.
"I've played sports my whole life but never dealt with anything like that," Merritt said. "No surgeries or anything. There was a whole lot of, 'What's going to happen?' "