Living a miracle

LA JOLLA, Calif. - Golf is a selfish sport. The first letter in independent contractors is "I" and there's a whole lot of that me-first philosophy on the professional tours.

John Engler understands that. Whatever success or failure he has in his rookie season on the PGA Tour will ultimately come down to him.

But if the last three years have taught Engler anything, it's that he's far from alone. He wouldn't have been here if not for a whole lot of other people.

In that way, Engler feels like he is part of a team - doctors, teachers, friends and family - that brought him back from the bottom to the top.

"I feel like they deserve to be credited," he said.

His "teammates" appreciate the sentiment.

"There are a lot of people that invested a lot in him, and he appreciates that and understands it," said Lonnie Hergott, Engler's physical therapist at Orthopedic Associates of Augusta. "That's nice."

ENGLER'S OUTLOOK CHANGED forever March 23, 2003, on a lonely two-lane road in Johnson County. Driving back from a golf tournament and a morning turkey hunt, Engler's Chevy Tahoe veered over the center line and into an oncoming car.

The collision was catastrophic. The couple in the other car - Bryan and Leslie Rampey - were killed instantly. Engler might have died, too, had Carl and Angie Claxton of Wrightsville, Ga., not guided him out of his car and a safe distance away before the vehicle was engulfed in flames.

"Everybody has a purpose in life, and for some reason it wasn't my time to go that day," he said. "That's the biggest thing - I'm hurtful for the Rampey family. There are two people who woke up that morning and didn't know any different. That's a hard pill to swallow, that you were involved in something and people's lives were terminated.

"I've become such a present person. There were days before that I would envision myself in the future and things I would do. For whatever reason - and I don't know what my reason is; the PGA Tour might not be my ultimate reason for where I am - it wasn't meant for me to move on. That's how I keep myself at peace."

IT CERTAINLY DIDN'T seem like the PGA Tour would ever be a part of that reason. The crash nearly severed Engler's right foot and required six surgeries in nine months. Recurring infections periodically sent his recovery back to square one.

His family - parents, Doug and Libby, and younger sister, Elizabeth - and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Wright, made everything tolerable. "My life was all moving in the right direction and it came to a weird stop," he said. "It stopped life and they made it fun. ... My sister, mom, dad and Elizabeth are the most amazing people."

The emotional blow was brusque. The first week in the hospital in Dublin, Ga., doctors told Engler he could forget about golf. "That's when it first hits you," said Wright, who flew from Texas to be there. "It was crushing - so much, so fast. It's hard to take it."

At home full time for the first time since he'd left for college, Engler had to rely on family for things we all take for granted. His mother was driving him everywhere again, just as she had in junior golf.

Some things, however, he did for himself and showed his determination.

"His bedroom was upstairs and he slept in his bed every night," Libby said. "As sick as he was, he always managed to get up those steps - whether he crawled on his knees or shimmied up backwards - and slept in his bed."

Still, it was a life change none of the Englers had counted on. And it brought them even closer.

"Things became different in all aspects," Engler said. "We started hanging out more like a family and eating dinners like a family. Just the rekindled family style of life. Almost like a second adolescence."

Said his mother: "We just took every day and every situation step by step. We just longed for things to be normal."

WHEN ENGLER LEFT Clemson, he swore he'd never read another book in his life. One of the first gifts his girlfriend gave him after the accident was a book about Ben Hogan, who nearly died in a horrific head-on crash with a bus in 1949. Some thought Hogan would never play golf again, yet he returned to the game a year later and won the 1950 U.S. Open, plus five more majors, before he retired.

"I thought it would be something that's inspirational," said Wright.

Engler - a 2004 finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, presented by the Golf Writer's Association of America to an individual who continues to be active in golf despite a physical handicap, injury or serious illness - sees the similarities in his recovery and Hogan's.

"Those things motivate me," he said. "I've become pretty intrigued with Ben Hogan and stuff that happened to him and his leg and laying in tubs. I still ice my foot after every round. The '50s and 2006 are totally different times and medicine has gotten a whole lot better, but as a whole it's a very similar story."

THE MEDICAL SIDE of Engler's return was significant. The initial emphasis was to be able to walk again without a limp.

That took the expertise of people to whom Engler is eternally grateful. Dr. Lee Fullerton, an orthopedic surgeon at University Hospital, was involved in all but the initial surgery on Engler's foot. Dr. Jack Austin, an infectious disease specialist, handled treatment of the recurring infections that would set him back every time Engler thought the worst was behind him.

Then there was Hergott, a rehab specialist and trainer Engler once worked with in college. Their daily relationship quickly became a friendship.

"Lonnie is great," Engler said. "He helped keep me focused getting back to golf. He never let me for a second think I wasn't going back to golf. I kid him that he's like a sports psychologist. Stuff he tells me is unbelievable how mentally powerful it can be.''

Physically empowering as well. Working together with Engler's swing instructors, first Mike Cook and now Todd Anderson, they developed a regimen that aggressively attacked the rest of his body and supported his golf swing. "He's stronger than he's ever been, and his mobility in his hips has unlocked his swing," said Hergott.

His road back to a golf career was not so easily opened. Engler endured a miserable experience at qualifying school in 2004; he wasn't ready to be there and it showed. Compounding the failure to qualify was a foot that ached.

Just days before Christmas, the infection had come back and knocked Engler's health and confidence for a loop. It was a low point of his recovery, and it was the closest Engler came to letting go of his dream.

"I thought at that point that it wasn't meant to be," he said. "Lonnie told me if I wanted to get a job, go ahead and it wouldn't bother him at all. But if not, we had stuff we needed to do. He never released me like he did other people. He never gave me the option to give up."

For Hergott, the reason was simple.

"I didn't want the ankle to be the thing that forced him out, that he can't do this because of the ankle," Hergott said. "I was trying to get him to a point where if he wanted to play, he could play. If it wasn't going to work it wasn't going to work. But I wanted him to be able to make that decision on his own terms and not be forced out by the ankle."

BY JANUARY 2005, things started to get better. By July, the X-rays showed dramatic improvement.

"Some of it is miraculous and some of it had to do with these guys," Engler said. "For the first time in the whole deal, they told me I could go play golf and not further hurt my ankle."

Engler took off from there.

"John started believing in himself that he was going to make it back," Hergott said. "It wasn't just me pushing him. He was asking for things. It grew and grew and grew and continued to evolve into a special story."

Starting in August, Engler played a relatively full schedule that included events on the Hooters, Nationwide, Canadian and Tar Heel tours.

After finishing 13th at Q school and securing his PGA Tour card, Engler's immediate reaction was far from selfish. He wanted to have a party for all of the people who had been so important in his life.

And he wanted it right away - the first night he was back in Augusta.

"It had been a long road, and he finally achieved the goal of a lifetime," Wright said. "It was extremely important to him that the core group of people who were such an influence be involved."

It was a whirlwind effort that belied the long tedious road to this place. Everyone made sure they were there.

"You could feel in the room what a sense of relief and what true jubilation it was," Hergott said. "Very heartfelt and genuinely happy."

Engler feels like he has them all with him still as he embarks on the PGA Tour.

"He's playing for himself and he's able to do what he does because of other great people," said Wright.

Engler took his family with him for his debut in Hawaii because he felt they deserved to be there as much as he did. His mother marveled watching him play.

"It seems like you're living a miracle," Libby said. "It's full of blessings."

Engler understands that. He knows he's changed and the way he approaches golf has changed with him. That he's missed his first two cuts on the PGA Tour is disappointing, but not to the degree it would have been three years ago.

"I leave the golf course now with a different perspective on life," he said. "I'm not going to let golf consume me 24/7 like it did before. ... I don't want to get back to an athlete mentality - kind of get in selfish mode where you expect something. Now I don't expect to be on the PGA Tour and appreciate it more."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.