MAKING HIS
MARK
by TOM ROBINSON
V
Life is good for Virginia Beach resident and rising
PGA Tour pro Marc Leishman
irginia Beach’s Marc Leishman
rocketed up the Official World
Golf Ranking in 2017. The native
Australian, whose wife Audrey was
raised in the resort city, made the
biggest move among pro golfers
who began last year ranked in the
top 60, climbing from 56 to 13.
Leishman claimed two of his
three career PGA Tour victories, winning the Arnold
Palmer Invitational and the BMW Championship, a
FedEx Cup playoff event. They highlighted a season
in which the 2009 rookie of the year posted 16
top-25 finishes in 25 events and won nearly $6
million. Leishman, 34, also played on his third
Presidents Cup squad for the International side.
But life might be even better off the course. A
devoted family man, Leishman and Audrey last
July welcomed their third child, daughter Eva.
Audrey, a College of William & Mary graduate
who met Marc in Williamsburg during a minor-
league tour qualifier, has rebounded from the
nearly fatal attack of toxic shock she suffered in 2015.
The Leishmans own a sprawling home on a golf course
outfitted with a backyard green and chipping area. And
their Begin Again Foundation, formed following Audrey’s
illness, supports families experiencing medical and other
life emergencies.
Leishman fit in a conversation with Virginia Golfer
between his recent travels home to Australia and prepa-
ration for the 2018 season.
Virginia Golfer: You have so many balls in the air, but
you must feel as though you’re at a peak of life personally
and professionally.
Marc Leishman: There’s a lot going on, but it’s all good
stuff. Obviously, Eva being born was the highlight of last
year off the course. The wins were very satisfying, too,
especially to have the whole family there to see both of
them. I’ve played 226 PGA Tour events and won three, so
for them to be at two of them is pretty good.
VG: Given how important family is to you, how difficult
is it to balance the demands of the PGA Tour?
ML: If I’m going to be away for three weeks, I like Audrey
and the kids to come out for one of them. I can’t imagine
how people in the military do deployments that are
months long. That takes serious mental strength. Being
away distracts me and the kids, especially Harvey, our
oldest. He’s old enough to remember what happened
with Audrey. When one parent’s gone for too long it’s
hard on him.
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