Former British Open champion Brian Harman ends its season with a heavy heart as a close family friend remains in a coma after nearly drowning while trying to save the golfer’s 6-year-old son.
Harman had been to the Macau Open last month when his wife took their children and family friend Cathy Dowdy to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for a vacation. He said his son was on a boogie board when he was swept away by a rip current.
He said Dowdy went into the ocean looking for the child and was unable to reach her when she began struggling in the unusually strong current. Harman said another man, Crane Cantrell, saw what was happening and came to help.
“He’s doing well, Cathy (is) very badly injured in the water,” Harman said Tuesday at the RSM Classic. “She’s been in a coma for six weeks now and so obviously our world here was kind of turned upside down.”
The St. Johns Citizen reported that a lifeguard pulled Dowdy from the water and performed lifesaving measures until medical help arrived.
Matt York/AP
“I don’t really know what I wanted to say, other than I wanted to use whatever platform I had to get the word out about what Cathy did, what Crane did,” Harman told the reporter during a press conference. “They didn’t care about themselves, went into the water, saved my son and how do you thank people like that? I don’t know anything other than to just say what you think.
“I think courage and doing something like this for people who are not of your blood is just the most beautiful thing you can do in this life.”
A GoFundMe set up for Dowdy’s family had raised more than $80,000 as of Thursday. The page said Dowdy was in critical condition at the Mayo Clinic.
“Money raised will help cover expenses related to hotel rooms, possible long-term lodging, food and gas,” GoFundMe says. “We want them to be comfortable and supported during the time it takes for our Cathy to join us.”
Last year, Harman won the British Open. At 36, he became the oldest to win a first major since Sergio Garcia was 37 when he won the Masters in 2017.
