Second-year pro Ally McDonald had a major health scare in Malaysia last year at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.
On the 16th tee box, she had three seizures and had to be taken to a local hospital. She wasn’t discharged until the Thursday after the tournament. Her mom, Angie, flew over to Malaysia once learning that her daughter would be hospitalized for an extended period of time.
“I said my caddy Dan’s (Chapman) name and then I guess I fainted and ended up having three seizures,” explained McDonald back in November. “I had one on the tee box, one in the ambulance on the way to the emergency room and a few hours later had a third when they were taking me to get a CT (computed tomography) scan.”
McDonald played in the CME Group Tour Championship and then had a seizure-free offseason and has a clean bill of health from the doctors.
She posted one of the low rounds of the tournament early on Saturday with a 7-under, 65 that included an eagle on 11.
“I hit the ball really well, which I struggled with the first two days,” said McDonald, who made the cut by just one shot. “I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdie and was able to convert.”
On 11, McDonald hit a solid drive and then had 222 yards to the pin with a helping wind and hit a 4-iron to nine feet and then drained the eagle putt.
McDonald will take preventative anti-seizure medication for the next two years, but she hasn’t had another one since and fully expects to be past the scare.
“It was a tough couple weeks after the seizure, but I got a clean bill of health from the doctors and trained really hard this offseason to prepare my body for what I didn’t know I’d go through. I’m healthy and really excited for the year.”
This is McDonald’s third tournament of the season. She has made the cut in all three and has a chance at her first top 10 of the year on Sunday.
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