Hayden Springer became a PGA Tour member for the first time on Monday evening at TPC Sawgrass, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, snatching one of the five cards distributed. Springer first started his career playing at Texas Tech, later transferring to Texas Christian University, otherwise known as TCU, to better enhance his golf career. As a senior he won the Big 12 championship, outdueling Viktor Hovland. While at Texas Tech, he met his now wife, Emma, while she was also golfing at Texas Tech. Soon enough after Hayden graduated and started his professional career, the two married in Aug. of 2019 and Emma soon became pregnant with their first child due in Oct. of 2020.
In May of 2020, Emma went in for a routine ultrasound, only to discover some abnormalities including cysts on the baby’s brain as well as the umbilical cord having two blood vessels instead of three. The two soon-to-be parents later discovered their unborn child was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder caused by the presence of a third copy of all or part of chromosome 18. Around 50 percent of the babies with Trisomy 18 are stillborn, and as for the other 50 percent who survive, the average short life span is between two and 14 days. Those babies who make it into the world are often extremely small, with severe heart defects. Many hospitals won’t even attempt the surgery needed to correct the heart defects, claiming it too high-risk. Hayden continued competing on the All-Pro Tour, a mini based in the central U.S. throughout it all. On Oct. 1 their baby was born via scheduled C-section, the new parents naming her Sage, weighing in at 4 pounds and 10 ounces at birth. Fighting against all odds, Sage continued to fight for her life and first hours went on, which later turned into days, and then the two were finally able to take their baby girl home. Soon enough four months after her birth, Sage underwent invasive heart surgery and continued to fight the entire time.
Sage was able to celebrate her first birthday, along with her second and third. The parents later had welcomed a healthy baby daughter, Annie, in 2022, making Sage a big sister. Hayden had earned status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022, but started to struggle on the course as Sage’s health began to deteriorate. On Nov. 13 2023, Sage took her final breath at three years old.
A month after Sage’s death, Hayden earned his PGA tour card. He finished off at 8-under par, good for a tie at fourth overall. At first, there was a bit of a rough start. After two back-to-back bogeys starting from the 12th hole, he was able to reel it in with a birdie on 14, but had yet another bogey on 17. However, a tap-in par was just enough to tie him at fourth with Mexico’s Raul Pereda, leading to both of them snagging the last two tour cards.
