Living in the moment: Hoffmann back at Heritage, despite muscular dystrophy diagnosis
Morgan Hoffmann was walking from the putting green to the first tee at the RBC Heritage golf tournament with purpose when he suddenly took a quick detour after spotting his wife, Chelsey, his mother, Lorraine, and a doberman pinscher, just beyond the rope separating fans and players.
His wife gave him an umbrella. And his dog, Yama, jumped up and gave him a kiss. Hoffmann left the brief exchange with his biggest supporters with a smile on his face.
“I’m super happy for him,” Chelsey Hoffmann said moments later.
The last time Morgan Hoffmann, diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in 2017, competed in a PGA Tour event was in 2019.
The long road back to professional golf for the 32-year-old New Jersey native and Oklahoma State golfer with ties to South Carolina is culminating at this week’s RBC Heritage on Hilton Head. Morgan told reporters earlier this week at Harbour Town Golf Links that it is “amazing to be back” and that his game is “solid.”
“I’ve been telling everybody I feel like a little 12-year-old kid again playing an AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) out here,” Hoffmann said.
Hoffmann has taken a road less traveled in his return to PGA Tour golf, and he says that’s made a difference.
He visited Nepal, moved to Central America, and embraced medicines that would be considered far from traditional. The journey, he says, has given him a new perspective on golf, health and life — and a mission to share what he’s learned, particularly about health.
“Some smiles,” Hoffmann says when asked what he’s expecting at the RBC Heritage. “Some golf on a beautiful course. That’s really about it.”
At the same time, he adds, he’s been practicing hard, his clubs are “dialed in” and he has a great caddie, Sante, from Colombia, the country.
“Obviously you come to tournaments to win and I’ve never done that before,” Hoffman says, “so might as well shoot for the stars, right?”
Hoffmann began his first round Thursday with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, ranked 23 in the world, and No. 39 Harold Varner III, of Charlotte. A few “woohoos” accompanied by healthy applause greeted him when his name was announced and he stepped to the tee.
His story became more widely known after Dan Rapaport of Golf Digest traveled to Costa Rica, where the Hoffmanns now live, to chronicle Hoffmann’s lifestyle changes since his diagnosis. Those changes include a retreat from western medicine. PGA Tour also has also featured Hoffmann’s comeback.
But Hoffmann is no stranger to the Lowcountry.
Many people probably don’t know, Hoffmann said, that he went to high school on Daufuskie Island, just across Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head’s Harbour Town, where he attended the International Junior Golf Academy with the Gary Gilchrist Academy. On the weekends, they used to play at Harbour Town, and now it is one of Hoffmann’s favorite courses because it requires creativity.
The crowning achievement of designer Pete Dye, Harbour Town Golf Links puts a premium on finesse, imagination and shot making, rather than strength. That makes it unlike many of today’s PGA Tour courses, Hoffmann says, describing them as “crazy long.”
“It’s one of my favorite courses in the world and you got to be very creative around it and I think my game is the creative type,” Hoffmann said. “I love hitting different shots and it’s inevitable you’re going to be in the trees at some point this week and having to move it around. And even in the fairway, trying to move it into greens.”
Hoffmann entered the 2018-2019 PGA Tour season on a major medical extension which gave him 18 starts and he has three remaining.
The first-round Heritage results were not available at press time Thursday afternoon as many players still had not finished their rounds. For up-to-date results, check islandpacket.com. With an $8 million purse, the winner will take home about $1.4 million plus 500 FedExCup points.
‘I can show people who are interested’
Hoffmann announced in December 2017 that he had been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. He last competed on the PGA TOUR at the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open.
Hoffmann’s mission today surpasses golf.
He wants to bring the message of what he’s discovered about alternative medicine to a broader audience. He and Chelsey founded the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation in 2017. Building a “virtual and physical space to teach and support integrative healing modalities for the mind, body and soul” is part of the effort.
“And now that I’m having some success with my health, I can show people who are interested and who have questions on what I’ve done to heal something that has been deemed incurable, how to do it naturally and that’s just my path,” Hoffmann said.
At a news conference, the discussion ranged far beyond Hoffmann’s golf game and the golf course and included topics such as spirituality and plant medicines.
His story, Hoffmann realizes, “is crazy,” but he sees a purpose in it.
“I think I have been put in this motion for a reason,” Hoffmann says, “and I just want to help people believe in themselves and get through really anything that they’re going through.”
Hoffmann’s back in the gym daily and getting stronger. His pectoral muscles, he says, are coming back from atrophy.
He had a setback in December when he broke his shoulder and two ribs in a motorcycle accident in his steep, rocky driveway in Costa Rica.
Previously, Hoffmann said, he put a lot of pressure on himself and that’s why he says he did not reach his potential.
“So I just wanted the main goal when I came back to be fun,” Hoffmann said.
At the first tee, Hoffmann, his long hair tied up underneath his hat, rested his hands on his driver as he waited for his turn. He wiped off his sunglasses than cracked his tee shot and set off down the fairway as his wife, mother and dog watched. Hoffmann parred the first hole and was 2 under through 11 holes as of late Thursday afternoon.
“He’s so excited just to be back,” says Chelsey, adding her husband is living in the moment.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 2:28 PM.
