Marc Leishman's family relishes CIMB Classic win from half a world away

Marc Leishman doesn’t have an office with four walls, where one might hang his kid’s art project. But tapping into infinite kid-wisdom, his oldest, Harvey, 6, came up with a solution: Why not scrawl the art directly on what passes for Leishman’s office, his enormous golf bag?

This was in early 2017, and Leishman wasn’t thrilled.

“At the beginning, I'm kind of like, ‘No,’” Leishman said after shooting 65 for a five-shot win at the CIMB Classic at TPC Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. “Then I was like, ‘Yeah, write your name on my bag,’ so he wrote his name. Then my other son (Ollie, 5) wanted to write his name.

“So now every golf bag that I have, they write their name on it and they love doing it,” Leishman added. “They see it on TV. And then every time I look at my golf bag, I think of them doing that or I think of my kids and that's never a bad thing to think of your kids. Yeah, that's a pretty cool thing that they do, and it will keep happening.”

Leishman, who was solo in Malaysia as wife Audrey looked after the kids back home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he was hitting it every which way on the driving range. He kept at it, though, and figured something out with his driver as he recorded scores of 68-62-67-65.

His 26-under total tied the CIMB record at TPC Kuala Lumpur, and left him well clear of T2s Emiliano Grillo (66), Chesson Hadley (66) and Bronson Burgoon (68).

Two-time CIMB winner and 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas shot a final-round 64 to tie for fifth. Now the TOUR heads to THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Korea, where Thomas beat Leishman in a sudden-death playoff last year.

It’s helpful, sometimes, to view the TOUR as one long story with lots of similar themes.

Last week, Kevin Tway, son of eight-time TOUR winner Bob, got his first win at the Safeway Open as Dad watched through tears on TV. The CIMB was also, in its way, about fatherhood.

In April, 2015, Leishman’s wife, Audrey, nearly died from a combination of sepsis, toxic-shock syndrome (TSS), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and pneumonia. She was in a coma for five days and given a 5 percent chance at survival. Marc was nearly a single father, but Audrey not only survived, she also gave the couple a daughter, Eva, 1. Audrey and Marc started the Begin Again Foundation to support survivors of sepsis, TSS and ARDS.

“I won't say it made golf less important, but it made me realize that golf's not life or death,” Leishman said from the CIMB, where he saluted his family’s willingness to forgo sleep in order to watch him win on TV. “We've been through that and that's not fun.

“Yes, I want to win trophies and lucky enough today to be leaving with one, which my kids will be very happy about, by the way,” Leishman added, “but if I wasn't to walk away the winner today, that's all right, too. As long as I give it my best shot, that's what it's all about.”

The CIMB was not life or death for Audrey and the kids, either, but it was still tense. Marc was tied for the 54-hole lead with Gary Woodland (71, T5) and potential Presidents Cup teammate Shubhankar Sharma (72, T10). Not surprisingly in Asia, Sharma, of India, was the fan favorite.

Audrey took the boys to a theme park Saturday in order to think about something else. That night, she organized her schedule around the late telecast. After napping from 9 p.m. to midnight, she turned on the TV as Leishman birdied four of his first five holes while his playing partners struggled. He cruised from there, and she woke up Harvey to watch the last putt at 3 a.m.

A year and a half ago, before Leishman won the 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and the BMW Championship, Harvey put the pressure on. He’d seen Jason Day’s kids, Dash and Lucy, scamper onto the 18th green to celebrate Dad’s victories, and wondered aloud why he and Ollie weren’t doing the same to greet their own dad.

Then came Bay Hill and Conway Farms, and the Leishman family celebrated. Last season saw Marc notch two runner-up finishes but no wins as he still made it all the way to the 30-man TOUR Championship. He must have sensed a win was imminent, though, because prior to the CIMB he booked the family plane tickets from Australia to Maui at the end of this year.

“I just booked them for Maui thinking that I'll either be playing in the (Sentry Tournament of Champions) or we'll go for a vacation there,” Leishman said. “Now I'll be playing a golf tournament.” (He tied for seventh at last year’s Sentry TOC, despite a third-round 76.)

“I know Audrey will be very excited, as my kids will be,” Leishman added. “Hawaii's an awesome spot, that's one of my favorite places in the whole world. To be able to play two weeks there at two of my favorite golf tournaments is certainly something to look forward to.”

Before he left Kuala Lumpur, Leishman pocketed a few toy airplanes to bring home to the kids, a gift of tournament sponsor Malaysia Airlines.

Miniature airplanes? A trip to Maui? A fourth TOUR win?

Yep, Marc Leishman banked some major Dad points even from half a world away.