After career-threatening scare, Karlsson can see clearly now

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Robert Karlsson fired a 4-under 66 in the second round of the St. Jude Classic.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- When it comes to Robert Karlsson, seeing is believing.

Almost exactly one year ago, Karlsson was losing vision in his left eye, and it nearly led to the end of his career -- not to mention it scared the you-know-what out of him.

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"I couldn't read the lines, everything was blurry," Karlsson said. "I had the ball sitting up in the rough. I looked down and didn't have a clue [to where it was]. I felt like I could completely miss the ball. That was when it got a bit scary."

It was the week of the European Open and Karlsson had been suffering for some time from macular degeneration -- a medical condition that results from loss of vision due to fluid build up on the retina. It's usually found in people over the age of 50, but it can also be brought on by stress.

"You see it quite a lot in athletes, pilots, doctors," Karlsson said. "[My doctor's] colleague had it. He played tennis. He knew where the ball was going and smacked a hole in the air."

There are various forms of it, some more serious than others, but imagine it as almost like a blister on your eye. Karlson's was smack on top of where all the nerve endings come out and that resulted in a "big, big change" in his vision.

"It's not dangerous," Karlsson said. "as long as you get rid of it as quick as you can."

To give you a better idea of how serious the condition can be (as if blurred vision or blindness didn't), according to one study macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness and severe vision impairment in Australia, where it is believed that more than 800,000 Aussies have some form of it.

"I saw the eye doctor and the first question was 'What is your job?'" said Karlsson, who shot a 4-under 66 Friday to sit two back heading into the weekend at the St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew. "'I'm a golfer' I said. 'How good are you? Can you afford to take time off?'"

Karlsson responded, "Yeah, how much?"

The doctor's answer: "Four months."

That was only the beginning. About 2½ months later, the Swede played in the Scandinavian Masters, where he stood over his ball and there was "absolutely no change whatsoever."

"That was not a good feeling," Karlsson said.

From May to September, those were the only 36 holes of golf Karlsson played. By the beginning of August, he came to grips with the fact that he may have to retire from golf because of the condition.

"If I don't play another event again, that's it," Karlsson thought at the time. "I still had a pretty good career.

"It was almost like I relaxed a bit when that happened. When I became friendly with that feeling, just a few weeks later was a big turnaround and I could play again."

That turnaround was completed with a win in Qatar earlier this year by Karlsson and has continued in Memphis, where he was able to see the ball well enough to hit 72 percent of his greens in regulation through the first two rounds. Friday, he took just 25 putts on his way to five birdies and just one bogey.

As well as Karlsson has played this week, though, his eye is still a concern. He takes drops for it once a day five times a week. He also sees his doctor every couple of months.

The condition could have been treated with laser surgery as well, but Karlsson would have lost 25 percent of his vision in the eye. Or he could have taken cortisone shots straight into the eye.

"[The shot] was not really an option either," Karlsson joked.

There was however one positive result, aside from the ability to see his golf ball again, to come out of all this for Karlsson.

"It's definitely put things into perspective more," Karlsson said. "At the end of the day, it's only a game. If you don't play well, it's not the end of the world."