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By Scott Hotard
Naples Daily News
 | | Kyle was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, cancer in both eyes, about three years ago. |
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In many ways, Kyle Lograsso is the typical 5-year-old.
He toys with Transformers on his bedroom floor. He drives his sisters crazy.
He hasn't learned to tie his shoes.
But set a bag of clubs by Kyle's side and rest a golf ball at his feet. Watch the boy twist into a clean, compact swing.
Watch typical disappear.
There Kyle was Thursday morning, the driver in his hand. Wearing plaid shorts, a blue pullover and a white visor, the kid from the Philadelphia suburbs followed his parents to the driving range.
Amateur players were gathered there practicing for the Chrysler Cup Championship, a national event that gets under way today at Tiburón Golf Course in North Naples, also the site of The Franklin Templeton Shootout.
Kyle's father, Jeff Lograsso, put down the small bag of clubs he had carried from the media center, placed a glove on Kyle's right hand and stepped to the side.
Showtime.
It wasn't long before Leslie Henry, one of the amateurs, sidled up. The Dallas resident had been watching Kyle, who plays golf left-handed but does most everything else right-handed, from the distance. She watched until she couldn't contain herself anymore.
"Wanted to see if I could pick up some pointers," the 55-year-old said, smiling, "before playing in the tournament here."
Had the lady stuck around to hear Kyle's story, she might have left the range with more than a tip or two.
She might have been inspired.
No matter if Kyle ever beats his idol Tiger Woods -- he says he will -- the blond youngster with the pretty, natural stroke has already toppled one monster.
Kyle was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, cancer in both eyes, about three years ago. He had his left eye removed and underwent chemotherapy to save the other.
It hasn't changed his life.
Or his golf game.
Kyle gravitates to any place where birdies can be had, dragging his father along to caddie for him.
It's a combination of those things -- the triumphs on and off the course -- that brought Kyle to the Naples area with his family for the weekend.
Every year, the Shootout honors a special guest during a private banquet the night before the tournament. The honoree is someone who represents the benefits of the CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, the tournament charity since its inception.
This year, it's Kyle.
"No matter what he does in life," his proud father said,"he's changed more lives as a 5-year-old than most people will in their entire lifetime. Beating cancer is better than beating any golf course."
Not that Kyle won't try.
The kid has left the family's living room a mess, scattering more balls than you'd find on some practice greens.
He watches reruns on the Golf Channel as if that were breaking news, enough to make his sisters, Kristen,13, and Kaley,11, want to stick the remote in a garbage disposal.
He drills balls into a soccer backstop in the family's backyard. The club cover for his driver is a tiger head, the same one his idol has.
"He loves it," says his mother, Regina Lograsso."When he was in treatment, golf was so much more than a sport for him. It was the thing that made him happy, and it's something he enjoyed doing when he couldn't go out and play with the other kids."
If that sounds like a famous anecdote to define the birth of a star, there is reason to believe it might just be.
The kid's got game.
Kyle scored his first birdie before his 4th birthday. He has shot a 41 in nine holes of golf and an 89 in a full round. He can drive a ball about 80 yards on the fly and about 130 yards with the roll.
His swing is a thing of beauty -- seemingly effortless, producing the kind of follow-through that resembles a trophy pose.
Tiger, beware.
"It's just what I see on TV," Kyle said, explaining how he cultivated his talents.
It's true. Kyle has never had a swing coach. In fact, he's only had one golf lesson in his life -- a putting lesson.
The wunderkind learned how to play the game while watching The Golf Channel. He'd stand in front of the television with a club, a stick or even the remote and imitate his heroes.
"We don't know where it came from,"said Regina Lograsso, when asked of Kyle's passion for golf.
He certainly didn't get it from his parents, who hadn't played golf until Kyle dragged them into it.
They now find themselves in a whirlwind of media coverage. Since this kid who beat cancer started turning heads, the likes of Golf Digest and HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" have told his story.
"When you see something like what Kyle is doing," said Greg Norman, the Shootout host, "it carries that energy to other people. People like that give strength to those who don't see within themselves that they have their own issues and problems."
But Kyle's climb to where he is today -- cancer-free for nearly three years -- doesn't mean that the climb is over.
Because Kyle's cancer was the result of a gene mutation, he is at risk of developing similar malignancies in other parts of his body. Regina Lograsso said he will be monitored throughout his life.
"We know the risks of developing a second cancer," Regina Lograsso said, "but we just live day by day and, you know, enjoy life. That's all you can do."
With that, she went back to watching her son practice. As a line of the amateur players watched from carts in the distance, Kyle kept swinging his driver. Balls kept disappearing.
Amazing, she thought.
"He started at such a young age," the mother said, "it's almost like we're numb to how good he actually is."
And, yes, how typical he is not.
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