"That's what drove me away" - Jimmy Walker opens up on almost quitting golf after being diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2017

Jimmy Walker, diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2017, now has a three-stroke lead after 36 holes at RBC Heritage, shooting a score of 6-under on Friday at Harbour Park Golf Links.

From 2014 to 2016, Walker had six wins, including the 2016 PGA Championship, but a discovery of Lyme disease later that year hampered his game and he never really recovered from that slip.

Walker's blood report revealed that he also had signs of mononucleosis, West Nile virus, and two different types of bacterial pneumonia, all at the same time (as quoted by Jimmy Walker's wife, Erin, in her blog).

The six-time winner on the PGA Tour spoke about his struggles with illness and its post-effects in a post-match interview on Friday.

He told reporters:

"Since getting sick, mentally and physically feel different damn near every day, and that's been the hardest part. The things that I work on one day, I can't feel it the next day. Some days I'll get two days out of it. So that's been the hardest part."

Walker added:

"That's what drove me away is I can't get the same feels day in and day out, and that's what you need out here to play well is to have a feeling of it's the same and I can rely on that today, and I haven't had that"

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"I didn't watch a shot" - Jimmy Walker revealed how he spent his five-month break from the professional golf

During RBC Heritage's post-round press conference on Friday, Jimmy Walker also revealed that he didn't watch any golf when he was at home recovering from his illnesses.

He said:

"I didn't watch a shot. I didn't look at golf scores. I didn't know what anybody was doing honestly. I don't know what it was. It was like a five-month break or something. And I was still going out and playing golf at home with my friends. I always treated every time I played golf, even at home or work, I treated it like it was work and I was always working."

He added that although he was still playing golf during his break, it wasn't that serious.

"I was going out there to let loose and have fun as opposed to just a grind. I would show up and play, and I was still playing pretty good at home. Courses are not as hard as out here and that kind of thing. So it wasn't like I wasn't playing golf. I was still playing but zero practice. I wasn't doing any of that."

This year, Jimmy Walker has made three top-25 finishes in four cuts he made.

Walker considered calling it quits during the 2020 Valero Texas Open and was on the verge of losing his PGA Tour card the following year. However, thanks to LIV professionals exiting the PGA Tour, the 2016 PGA Championship winner ended up in the top 50 list of PGA career money earners and received a one-year exemption.

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RBC Heritage Leaderboard after Round 2

Jimmy leads after two rounds at RBC Heritage

• 1 Jimmy Walker -12
• T2 Justin Rose -9
• T 2 Xander Schauffele -9
• T 2 Scottie Scheffler -9
• T 5 Patrick Cantlay -8
• T 5 Tommy Fleetwood -8
• T 5 Viktor Hovland -8
• T 5 Mark Hubbard -8
• T 5 Aaron Rai -8