Players shocked, supportive after Maggert family tragedy

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- One by one, the players shook their heads in disbelief.

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Jeff Maggert

TRAGEDY

More: Maggert confirms brother died in plane crash

Some had seen the WD by Jeff Maggert's name and assumed it was the 24-hour virus creeping through the locker room. Others thought his back had gotten cranky. They hoped it wasn't a problem with one of his children.

The reality, quite honestly, never crossed their minds.

Maggert walked off the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday afternoon and to news that his older brother Barry had been killed in a plane crash in a remote area in the snowy mountains outside Black Hawk, near Denver. Barry, 55, was apparently piloting his 1965 single-engine Cessna to Boulder to see his son Lee graduate from the University of Colorado with a degree in architectural engineering.

According to reports, a 23-year-old passenger survived and was rescued off the mountain by a Blackhawk helicopter about 3½ hours after the crash and flown to a Denver hospital. His identity was not known, but Barry had twin 23-year-old sons -- Lee and Bryant.

"Life's fragile,'' said Jonathan Byrd. "There's no other way to say it."

Byrd was paired with Maggert and Todd Hamilton for the first two rounds and was halfway through his warm-up on the range when he learned why Maggert withdrew. He and his caddie Mike Hicks sat down and prayed.

"We prayed that God would grant him peace,'' Byrd said. "There's no way of understanding how something like that can happen. I can't imagine walking off the course and hearing something like that.''

Both Byrd and Hicks realize how fragile life is. Byrd has watched his father battle brain cancer. Hicks was Payne Stewart's caddie and one of his closest friends. His life was shattered one Monday morning in the fall of 1999 when Stewart died in a tragic plane accident.

"When I found out my father had brain cancer,'' Byrd said, "there was no way to put it into words. That's my dad. I thought he would live forever. . . . But he's had good surgeries, good treatment. I'm glad he's got a wife and six kids who love him.''

Maggert has a locker room full of extended family, all of whom were sending their thoughts and prayers via phone calls and text messages. They know. Almost everyone on the TOUR has had to cope with a tragedy of some kind.

"It's just awful,'' said Chris DiMarco, who got the news via a text message. "It obviously goes to show you that what we do for a living is not close to what our life is. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Maggert family.

"I know how hard it is. I lost my mom a few years ago."

When told of the tragedy Friday morning, fellow Texan Ben Crenshaw said his heart went out to Maggert and his family.

"I feel terrible for him,'' said Crenshaw, who captained one of the Ryder Cups Maggert played on in the 1990s. "I hate to hear news about someone who is such a solid human being. I know he's really going to miss his brother.''

The news also shocked Houston Golf Association President Steve Timms, the director of Maggert's hometown tournament, the Shell Houston Open.

"We're obviously very sad and we're keeping Jeff and his family in our thoughts and prayers, Timms said.

Hamilton played with Maggert on the Asian Tour for a few years and competed against him in college.

"For some reason, I looked up on the wall near the caddie area this morning and saw he'd WDed,'' Hamilton said. " I didn't know until one of the caddies told me.''

He shook his head. What a tragedy.

"It's terrible,'' he said. "You just never know. I mean, I may not play tomorrow, who knows. Something might happen to me.

"You never know.''