According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday, Australian golfer John Senden has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 52. Senden has reportedly been showing some symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease over the last year and a half. He is currently on medication, and has no interest in retiring from golf. Senden presently plays on the Champions Tour, where he was 83rd on the 2023 money list with $119,404.
It should be noted that Senden has been going thorough another personal trauma in recent years. That is because six years ago John’s son Jacob had brain cancer. He is doing better today with the medical assistance at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.
Senden, a native of Brisbane, won twice on the PGA Tour. He first won the 2006 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, where he shot a four-round score of -19. There, Senden beat American J.P. Hayes by a stroke. The John Deere Classic usually precedes the British Open. Senden also won the 2014 Valspar Championship. There he shot -7 and beat American Kevin Na by a stroke.
In Australia, Senden also won the 2006 Australian Open. There he shot a four-round score of -8 to beat 2006 United States Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Adelaide by a stroke at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.
The most famous athlete to ever be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease was American boxing legend Muhammad Ali. He was diagnosed at the age of 42, three years after his final fight against Trevor Berbick of Jamaica. Ali was considered the finest boxer in the world from 1964 to 1979. The news of Senden’s Parkinson’s disease has come the same year as Jan Stephenson’s breast cancer diagnosis.
