SYDNEY:

An emerging Australian golfer who lost sight in his left eye after being struck by a golf ball just weeks after making his US PGA Tour debut returned to the professional game Thursday, saying it was "a great feeling".

Jeffrey Guan, 21, was on an upward trajectory last year, signing with the same management company that boasted major winners Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson.

He received a sponsor invite to the PGA Tour Procore Championship in California in September, shooting 69 and 75 to narrowly miss the cut.

But he was hit in the face by a ball at a tournament near Sydney, a freak accident that left him blind in his left eye.

Undeterred, Guan pledged to bounce back -- and he did just that at the NT PGA Championship near Darwin Thursday, firing a first-round 74.

"Teeing off the f

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