Skip to content

PGA champ Jimmy Walker reveals he has Lyme disease

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Walker has been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

The 2016 PGA Championship winner made the revelation to reporters at the Valero Texas Open on Wednesday.

Walker said he found out he tested positive for the condition two weeks ago, on the Wednesday before The Masters began in Augusta, Ga.

"I haven't felt real good since Thanksgiving," he said. "How long I've had it, I don't know, but I know I haven't felt great since about then, so I've been talking to some doctors trying to figure out the course of action to take and (will) get on some meds to get it (to) go in the right direction."

The 38-year-old was originally diagnosed with mononucleosis, before he discovered it was in fact Lyme disease.

"We've been talking to a lot of doctors and I think that (Lyme) was more of what was going on as opposed to the mono. A lot of the doctors think that (mono) wasn't really anything that was going on," Walker said.

Lyme disease is an infectious condition caused by bacteria and transmitted to humans by the bite of black-legged ticks. Symptoms can include fatigue, headaches, fever, and occasionally a skin rash.

Walker said he hasn't yet been told by doctors to take time off to rest.

He won his first career major last July, going wire-to-wire at the PGA Championship, but hasn't been himself since the fall, when he finished last in Shanghai.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox