Grateful Garrigus thrives after health scare

On Wednesday morning, Robert Garrigus was in the process of being released from a Phoenix-area hospital. On Saturday morning, he was making a charge up the leaderboard at a tournament that raises money for hospitals.

Garrigus, who began the third round tied for 19th place at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, wielded a hot putter in posting a third-round, 8-under-par 63 at TPC Summerlin to put himself in contention. Garrigus is one shot back of co-leaders Nick Watney and Kevin Na going into today's final round after briefly owning a share of the lead with Na following his birdie at the par-4 18th.

"Everything was going in early," said Garrigus, who drained a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-4 No. 1 and followed with a 20-foot putt for birdie at the par-4 No. 2 to get him on an early run that produced four straight birdies. "I knew right there it could be a special day. The greens were perfect."

Garrigus, 33, had taken ill following a practice round Monday at TPC Scottsdale, suffering from heat stroke and dehydration. He also was having heart palpitations and knew right away something wasn't right.

"Monday night, I didn't think I had a snowball's chance in hell of playing golf this week," said Garrigus, who checked into Chandler Mercy Medical Center and spent parts of three days there. "I was in a bad way. My system was shutting down on me, and I was close to the edge of being in real danger. But the doctors there gave me three bags of saline, and they took great care of me."

He has not had a relapse since arriving in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon, and despite temperatures in the middle to upper 90s each day, Garrigus and his game have held up well. On Saturday, he had one bogey and nine birdies as he kept the ball in play and made several long putts.

"It's amazing what happens when you don't have expectations," Garrigus said. "In golf, that sometimes works to your advantage. Now, I've given myself a chance to win."

And while Garrigus' condition that landed him in the hospital Monday wasn't as serious as that of the thousands of kids with burns and spinal injuries that fill the rooms of the 19 Shriners Hospitals worldwide, he has a deep appreciation for the need of quality medical care.

"I've taken tours of these (children's) hospitals, and I get choked up just thinking about those kids," Garrigus said. "It's unbelievable what these hospitals do, how much medicine and finding diseases early now can save kids' lives. That is so important."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.