Last August, former Kentucky golfer and current professional J.B. Holmes had to withdraw from the PGA Championship. He was tested and diagnosed with a condition called Chiari malformation (CM), or structural defects in the cerebellum.He underwent two surgeries in a month, the first removing a part of his skull and the second addressing an allergy to an adhesive used in the first. Since then, Holmes has recovered and returned to the PGA Tour in January. This week, he is participating in the Players’ Championship and is the story of the tournament even before teeing off in a competitive round. On Wednesday, Holmes met the Wendorff family, which has three children with CM. He hosted the three boys with the condition and their parents on the final practice day to show them a good time and that living a normal life with CM is possible.

Zachary and Skyler were later diagnosed with CM. Zachary has had a surgical procedure to treat the condition. Skyler is asymptomatic.“They’re kind of looking for somebody to look up to,” Dan said.Holmes is 5-foot-11, but that’s tall enough. He treated Skyler, Brayden, Zachary and Cami (the 4-year-old sister has no signs of CM) like golf royalty. They walked the fairways with Holmes and even took turns taking some practice putts.“It was awesome,” Dan said. “It was awesome. I was glad to see that they could meet with somebody, an adult that’s doing well and doing what he loves — [despite] the misfortune of having the Chiari malformation.”Holmes got something out of it, too. His smile was just as big as the kids’.And not that he needs another lesson in perspective, but Wednesday’s meeting was a nice reminder of what matters.“At the time, you think [bogeys are] the end of the world,” said Holmes, whose neck muscles are still recovering from the surgeries. “And they really don’t mean anything.”

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