SILVIS, Ill. – You cry all the tears and put your life on hold. You hug your loved ones and look for ballast anywhere you can find it. You prepare, but are never really ready. And then, when it’s over, you begin to step back into your old life, unsteady but resolute. “Kandi just wanted to return to something normal,� Hunter Mahan said of his wife, whose sister, Katie Enloe, died of leukemia last week. “You’re never going to forget, but you’ve just got to wake up the next day, and God willing you will wake up the next day and start living.� Mahan returned to competition with a 1-under 70 in the first round of the John Deere Classic on Thursday. He is here in the Quad Cities with Kandi; their three children; Mahan’s mother, Cindy; and Kandi and Katie’s mom, Debbie. They’ve rented a house for the week and are trying to get back to normal, whatever that might be now. “We’ve heard the first year is the hardest with birthdays and holidays,� said Mahan, who has played the Web.com Tour and the PGA TOUR this season. “It’ll be a hard year. I have bad moments, and Debbie—a mother losing her kid is pretty heartbreaking.� For six-time TOUR winner Mahan, 36, getting back to normal looks like golf. On a muggy Thursday at TPC Deere Run, he drove his ball into an old divot hole in the 18th fairway, but after assessing the situation he hit his approach to just inside eight feet and made the birdie. After signing his scorecard, Mahan obliged a few autograph seekers and indulged a reporter. The orange “KJE� on his white golf bag was a reminder of his last few months. Katie Jo Enloe was 35, and in addition to her husband, Jason Enloe, the former Web.com Tour player and now SMU men’s golf coach, she left behind two daughters, Emma, 5, and Maddie, 3. “My girls, my family are devastated right now but believe in the good Lord that he will provide us all with peace and happiness in the future,� Jason Enloe wrote on Instagram. “I sincerely have appreciated the notes, phone calls and generous gestures during the last 6 months. God has a plan, and we must trust in him that Katie is in heaven and will guide all of us as we continue our journey on Earth.� Katie was diagnosed in January, and late last month left the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to be surrounded by her family at home in Dallas. Mahan withdrew from the Quicken Loans National, where Meagan Laird, wife of PGA TOUR pro Martin, organized an orange-ribbon campaign for leukemia awareness in Katie’s honor. The campaign galvanized the players, one of whom was Ryan Armour, one of Jason’s best friends from the Web.com Tour, who would finish second to Francesco Molinari. Instead of worrying about the Quicken and the topography of TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, Mahan was miles away both literally and figuratively, huddled up with his family. He had planned on playing A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, too, but couldn’t see how. The situation at his mother-in-law’s house back in Dallas was too dire. “We just stayed at Debbie’s house, and just bunked up on the floors and were with her,� Mahan said. “I would come home and take care of the kids, my mom would take care of the kids.� At the end, the call came at 4 a.m., and Hunter stayed home with the kids while Kandi rushed to her mother’s house. Katie died before Kandi got there. The funeral was last Friday. Now much of the family are here at the John Deere, thinking about Katie, yes, but also birdies and bogeys, Hunter’s FedExCup number (161), and other odd things from their old life. “My wife was ready to get out here,� Mahan said. “She hadn’t traveled in a long time. And it’s good for Debbie to get out here with us, get out of her house, which have bad memories for her right now. Good time for her to just start her process, whatever that is. Hard to imagine, but to be with her daughter and a couple of her grandkids is about as good a therapy as you can get. “Kind of the new reality for our family,� Mahan added. “It’s nice to be out here, but also you’re still sad and emotional about everything that’s happened. That won’t go away for a long time.�
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