PGA Tour's Morgan Hoffmann Adds Local Pro-am In His Fight Vs. Muscular Dystrophy

On Dec. 4, PGA Tour regular Morgan Hoffmann, the New Jersey native, announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with the life-changing and incurable disease muscular dystrophy.

For Hoffmann, 28, MD is currently causing his right and left pectoral muscles to atrophy. The characteristics of this specific type of MD (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy) are atrophy of the chest, back, neck, arms and sometimes legs. Each case is different, and some muscles degenerate more quickly than others. As of now, the disease has progressed slowly and that’s working in Hoffmann’s favor.

“I have a great small team helping me with it. I’m keeping it simple for now. I’ve started the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation, and we’re now in the process of making a website. We’re starting with a big charity event at my old club, Arcola Country Club in Paramus on Monday, Aug. 20.

“We’ll have PGA Tour players and celebrities. It’s going to be incredible,“ Hoffman said.

The Morgan Hoffman Foundation Pro-Am Tournament is looking for help. Those interested in sponsorships for the Pro-Am may contact tournament director Jim Craffey of Arcola at jimcraffey@gmail.com

Of all the people in the world, it is so ironic that Morgan Hoffmann, the former Oklahoma State All-American, would be someone to contract the disease. He is known on the PGA Tour for his attention to clean living, fitness, exercise, nutrition and diet.

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“I’ve been very lucky. I’m able to play despite having muscular dystrophy. Some people who have been diagnosed are in a wheelchair within a year. I focus on positive stuff: working out really hard and trying to gain muscle and becoming stronger. My guidance in the fitness area has been incredible. I feel like I’m going in the right direction. My plan is to stay strong as long as possible," said Hoffmann, who won the NJSGA Junior championship in 2005. He was also the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world at one point and spent his high school years in South Carolina.

“I’ve gone completely vegetarian and follow a very strict diet. Doctors are searching for a cure, conducting stem cell research and experimenting with growth hormone treatments. I’m hopeful that they are on the right track,” he said.

Despite the diagnosis, Hoffmann enjoyed the best year of his career. He came in second in the Honda Classic last February, played in the most events ever in one season, had five final day opportunities, and made it to the second leg of the FedEx championship. He’ll start up again this season at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.

“I like to say I’m never going to give up. I want to achieve all my golfing dreams and now I have new meaning to really helping others who have been struggling through disease or health issues, no matter what. I want to be someone who provides a new type of guidance through a way of life, from meditation to eating right, to sleeping right,” Hoffmann stated.

“What will be on my foundation website will be articles on how to live a healthy lifestyle and how to completely eliminate stress. People don’t believe how stress affects most people’s health.”