For Brendan Valdes, Thursday’s opening round of the Biltmore Championship Asheville will represent something much bigger than another start on the PGA Tour.
Nine months after receiving a stunning cancer diagnosis and only a few months after being declared cancer-free, the 23-year-old is preparing to return to competitive golf at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Asheville, North Carolina.
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Valdes received a sponsor exemption into the inaugural tournament, which will be played Sept. 17-20. The former Auburn standout enters the week without knowing exactly what his game will look like after such a lengthy absence, but simply reaching this point represents a significant milestone.
“I feel like I’m ready to compete,” Valdes said.
A Nine-Centimeter Cancerous Tumor Put Valdes’ Career on Hold
Valdes appeared to be building considerable momentum in his young professional career before everything changed at the beginning of 2026.
After helping Auburn capture the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship, the three-time All-American finished his college career as one of the program’s most accomplished players. His performance also helped him finish second in the PGA Tour University rankings in 2025, earning Korn Ferry Tour status.
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Valdes made 11 Korn Ferry Tour appearances and recorded a tie for third at the Price Cutter Charity Championship. He also made the cut in each of his three PGA Tour starts, including a top-20 finish at the 3M Open.
Valdes went to an emergency room on January 1 in Orlando believing he was dealing with an ordinary illness – originally being told it was bronchitis. However, after further testing, doctors discovered a nine-centimeter cancerous tumor in his chest.
He was subsequently diagnosed with primary mediastinal lymphoma.
The news was particularly difficult to comprehend because Valdes had been competing without realizing anything was seriously wrong. His professional ambitions quickly became secondary as he began treatment.
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“We never would’ve found it without that [illness],” Valdes said. “It might have been too late at that point in time, so I truthfully got a little bit lucky that we found it as early as we did.”
For more than six months, golf was largely removed from his life. Valdes barely touched his clubs while undergoing chemotherapy, aside from occasionally picking up a putter or wedge around the house.
“I actually gained about 30 pounds during the process,” he said. “None of it was muscle. That’s for sure.”
A PET scan in June ultimately delivered the news he had been waiting for: Valdes was cancer-free. The PGA Tour confirmed this week that he will return to competition in Asheville on a sponsor exemption.
The Long Road Back to Competitive Golf
Being cleared medically was one milestone. Becoming physically capable of playing professional golf again presented another challenge.
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Valdes has spent roughly three months rebuilding the conditioning required to practice, walk 18 holes and compete over multiple days.
“It’s been a lot of work on trying to get back the stamina that I once had,” Valdes said.
Before his illness, walking a golf course was routine for a player in his early 20s. During treatment, Valdes said even walking to the mailbox could become difficult.
The competitive expectations haven’t disappeared. Valdes acknowledged that he still enters tournaments wanting to win, but his perspective entering the Biltmore Championship is understandably different from what it was before his diagnosis.
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“The expectations are just to go out and have fun,” Valdes said. “I mean, of course I’m always going to try and win. I’m never going to play an event that I don’t feel like I have the ability to. But I’m just going to stay confident and committed and just go out there and have fun.”
Valdes Takes on New Role as Play Yellow Ambassador
Children’s Miracle Network announced Sept. 15 that Valdes has become its newest Play Yellow Ambassador. The program, created through a partnership involving Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, Children’s Miracle Network and the PGA Tour, uses golf to raise money for children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada.
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Since 2020, Valdes has hosted an annual charity golf tournament supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families. He has also visited children receiving oncology treatment at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
Becoming a cancer patient himself changed his relationship with that work.
“Going through treatment gave me an entirely different understanding of the courage these children and their families show every day,” Valdes said. “Today, I am incredibly grateful to be in remission and returning to professional golf.”
As a Play Yellow Ambassador, Valdes will now use his platform to support fundraising and awareness efforts benefiting local children’s hospitals. Children’s Miracle Network says Play Yellow supports children’s healthcare throughout the U.S. and Canada.
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