Chest pain sends Toms to hospital
Shaun Micheel wasn’t happy after closing Thursday’s first round of the 84 Lumber Classic with three consecutive bogeys to fall into a tie for the lead with a 7-under 65 on Mystic Rock Golf Course. That didn’t compare to the helplessness he felt when playing partner David Toms had to be taken to Uniontown Hospital by ambulance after suffering chest pains – possibly due to a heart attack – halfway through the round.
Toms was later taken by helicopter from Uniontown to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh. His condition was downgraded from stable to critical at press time, reportedly for precautionary reasons.
Toms, Micheel and Jerry Kelly began their opening round on No. 10. By time the trio had finished its first nine holes, Toms was at even par, but Micheel noticed something was noticeably wrong.
“DT and I talked about duck hunting,” Micheel said. “Duck hunting starts in two months, and we talked about that the whole first nine. I think he was second to hit off the tee, and as usual, he hit it right down the middle.
“He kind of said something, and I turned around, and he was kind of clutching his chest and he said he couldn’t breathe. Someone thought that maybe he had gotten stung by a bee, but certainly if you’re holding your chest and can’t breathe, I don’t think it’s a bee sting unless you’re allergic, and he probably would have known that prior to today.
“It was a scary moment. It shook me up. I don’t know how Jerry felt. Ultimately, you’ve got to go on, but certainly my thoughts were with him.
“I don’t know how he’s doing. When anything like that happens … you see medics come over, OK, but then you see the ambulance back up to the first tee and that tells you it’s a little bit more serious than maybe a pulled chest muscle or something like that.”
Toms never lost consciousness, according to Micheel.
“He kind of went down to his knee and he got back up and walked a few feet and then went back to his knee,” Micheel said. “Then Scott, his caddie, said something to him, and I asked him if he wanted a drink of water, and he said his chest was hurting and his heart was racing.
“I’m not a doctor – that could be any number of things – but that’s generally not a good sign. And he just turned real white, just didn’t have the color in his face.”
Micheel and Kelly were left in limbo for a while as Toms was taken away.
“We had to go on, not knowing whether or not we should stay there or walk up to our balls or let the group behind us play in front,” Micheel said. “For 15 minutes we were all just standing around, obviously, with our thoughts on him, and then the rules official came up and told us that we’re just going to go ahead and play on.
“My thoughts and Jerry’s thoughts were with him. We still don’t know what happened to him, but it was kind of a scary situation out there.”
Three other golfers withdrew on Thursday. Jim Carter pulled out due to illness after completing his round with a 6-over 78. Sean O’Hair was 1-over through nine holes when he was sidelined due to back spasms.
D.J. Trahan was 1-over after eight holes when a neck injury forced him out.