Rising from the valley

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Golf

Rising from the valley

Greg Kraft battled and beat a serious disease, and now just wants

his job back.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer

Published June 30, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/30/Sports/Rising_from_the_valley.shtml

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To win again, Greg Kraft said, means so much more than the money he

earned, the perks that come his way and the opportunity he has given

himself to perhaps return to the PGA Tour.

" Until you play really well, you don't know if you're ever going to

be back or when you're back. At least I know it's there, " Kraft said

Wednesday, describing his wire-to-wire victory at the Nationwide

Tour's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic.

" I guess when you're sick, you figure you'll be back. But you never

know for sure if the mind will be back. There is a very calming

effect about me now. "

The victory on Sunday was Kraft's first on the developmental circuit

and his first since he won an unofficial event on the PGA Tour in

1993. The victory was worth $81,000 and moved him to 11th on the

Nationwide money list.

The top 20 money winners on the Nationwide Tour receive their PGA

Tour cards for 2006.

That is Kraft's goal, and it has been some journey to get back.

Kraft, 41, who went to the University of Tampa and lives in

Clearwater, played the PGA Tour for 12 seasons, four times finishing

second. In 1999, he earned $810,777 and finished 52nd on the money

list. (He has more than $3.8-million in PGA Tour career earnings.)

It was early in the 2002 season when Kraft contracted

coccidioidomycosis (cox-SID-ee-OID-oh-my-COE-suss), more commonly

referred to as valley fever, when he was playing at the Tucson Open.

The problem was, the illness was not diagnosed properly for four

months. One doctor thought he had cancer. It was finally determined

that Kraft had valley fever, a fungal infection. The fungus thrives

in arid places with hot summers and no winter frosts. Arizona,

California and Texas report the most cases in the United States.

All it takes is for the fungus to be inhaled, although some never

come down with any symptoms. Others see symptoms go away without

treatment.

Kraft was not so fortunate.

" They were treating the symptoms, not the disease, " he said. " They

went into my chest and removed the fungus, and everything is exactly

the same as cancer. It wasn't until they removed lymph nodes from my

chest and around my heart that they learned it was not cancer. After

that, the symptoms improved, but the disease did not go away. "

Kraft was eventually put on a medication that he would need to take

for a year. And then he tried to keep playing. It was about that

time, in late 2002, that Kraft sought a medical exemption from the

PGA Tour for 2003.

And that is where things got complicated.

According to Ed Moorhouse, executive vice president and co-chief

operating officer for the PGA Tour, a major medical exemption can

only be granted if a player cannot play for a minimum of four

months, and plays less than the average number of tournaments

entered by those among the top 125 money winners.

" The reason for the four months is it's evidence that a player did

have a significant medical condition, " Moorhouse said.

Not only did Kraft not skip the required four months, but he

competed in 31 events. The exemption is only given for a number of

events up to the average played by the top 125, less any events

already played.

Kraft could have sought a minor medical exemption. But that would

have put him in a non-exempt category, meaning he would only get

into fields that were not full.

" That didn't seem fair, " he said. " At the time, I was maybe 70th on

the money list, still in good shape. I just didn't realize how bad

the disease was. I figured I was better off playing and trying to be

fully exempt. "

Kraft finished 171st on the money list, meaning he was not fully

exempt for 2003, when in nine tournaments he made six cuts but

earned only $71,756 to place 220th on the money list.

And then in December 2003, Kraft sued the PGA Tour. He alleged that

tournament organizers failed to warn players about the risk of

contracting valley fever. The suit also named as a defendant Omni

Hotels Management Corp., which runs the resort where the tournament

took place. Filed in Pinellas County, the suit was dismissed,

Moorhouse said, then re-filed in Arizona, where it was again

dismissed.

Kraft has appealed and Moorhouse said he expects a resolution by the

end of the year.

During the same month that Kraft filed his original lawsuit, he had

a quarter of his lung removed. He still had to take medication for

another six months. " It wasn't until late July of last year that I

started to feel good because I didn't have to take any more of that

rat poison, " he said. " I'm still working and trying to get my

strength back to where it was. "

Kraft, who is building a home with his wife, a Jo, in Belleair

and now represents Belleair Country Club, has given himself an

excellent chance to return to the PGA Tour through his play on the

Nationwide Tour.

And that's really all he wanted.

" I just want my job back. I want to be back to where I was before I

was sick, " Kraft said. " I never wanted anything from the tour other

than my job back. I'm not looking for money. I just want what I had.

I just want to be back on the tour playing. I felt like it got taken

from me. I didn't feel like I wasn't working hard enough or was lazy

or took it for granted.

" I'm just going to work hard and try to get in that top 20. I was

going to play some tour events, but I don't think I am now. I'm

going to stick it out there (on the Nationwide Tour). I don't have

that much farther to go. I'm going to play and try to get it done. "

[Last modified June 30, 2005, 00:59:15]