<p class="title">Jason Day fought back tears Thursday after his opening round of the PGA Championship, heartbroken at the death of his friend Jarrod Lyle, the former tour player who died Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's hard because you sit there and you know him and he's a buddy of yours, and he's not there anymore," Day said. "He's never going to come back. That's the hardest thing to sort of come by. Now I'm tearing up."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many players teed off with a heavy heart at Bellerive Country Club after learning Lyle lost his battle with leukemia at age 36.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Australian was diagnosed twice with blood cancer as a youth and twice thought he had beaten it only to have it return last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've known Jarrod a long time," fellow Aussie Day said. "I lived across the street from him when we first started out in Orlando. He's a good buddy of mine. It's obviously heartbreaking to see."</p>.<p class="bodytext">In recalling Lyle's life, 2015 PGA winner Day noted his friend's determination to make the most of life, fighting to enjoy every possible day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He battled half his life. And the crazy thing is he was always upbeat and positive," Day said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For him to first get diagnosed with it when he was 17 and then battled three times, it just goes to show how much of a fighter he was inside to be able to keep pushing on even though it is painful to go through the stuff that he went through.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He impacted a lot of people. There are a lot of people out there that are sick and have probably the same thing going on. So for people to hear his story and know he fought on for a long time and lived a good life and had two kids and had a good loving wife, that's a lot of positive to come out of a story like that."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tiger Woods, a 14-time major winner, keenly felt the loss from golf's touring brotherhood.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a tough loss," Woods said. "It's sad. He's one of us. He's a player. It's always tough when you see one of us struggle. Now to see his kids without a dad. It's going to be tough times for all of us."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rickie Fowler, who fired a five-under 65 to lead by two strokes over Day and a host of others, switched from his planned blue shirt to a yellow one as a tribute to Lyle, known for the colour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Really the last few weeks, we've all been thinking about Jarrod a lot," Fowler said. "So I was scripted to wear dark blue today. That definitely immediately changed last night."</p>
<p class="title">Jason Day fought back tears Thursday after his opening round of the PGA Championship, heartbroken at the death of his friend Jarrod Lyle, the former tour player who died Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's hard because you sit there and you know him and he's a buddy of yours, and he's not there anymore," Day said. "He's never going to come back. That's the hardest thing to sort of come by. Now I'm tearing up."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many players teed off with a heavy heart at Bellerive Country Club after learning Lyle lost his battle with leukemia at age 36.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Australian was diagnosed twice with blood cancer as a youth and twice thought he had beaten it only to have it return last year.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've known Jarrod a long time," fellow Aussie Day said. "I lived across the street from him when we first started out in Orlando. He's a good buddy of mine. It's obviously heartbreaking to see."</p>.<p class="bodytext">In recalling Lyle's life, 2015 PGA winner Day noted his friend's determination to make the most of life, fighting to enjoy every possible day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He battled half his life. And the crazy thing is he was always upbeat and positive," Day said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"For him to first get diagnosed with it when he was 17 and then battled three times, it just goes to show how much of a fighter he was inside to be able to keep pushing on even though it is painful to go through the stuff that he went through.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He impacted a lot of people. There are a lot of people out there that are sick and have probably the same thing going on. So for people to hear his story and know he fought on for a long time and lived a good life and had two kids and had a good loving wife, that's a lot of positive to come out of a story like that."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tiger Woods, a 14-time major winner, keenly felt the loss from golf's touring brotherhood.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a tough loss," Woods said. "It's sad. He's one of us. He's a player. It's always tough when you see one of us struggle. Now to see his kids without a dad. It's going to be tough times for all of us."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rickie Fowler, who fired a five-under 65 to lead by two strokes over Day and a host of others, switched from his planned blue shirt to a yellow one as a tribute to Lyle, known for the colour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Really the last few weeks, we've all been thinking about Jarrod a lot," Fowler said. "So I was scripted to wear dark blue today. That definitely immediately changed last night."</p>