Photo essay: Ken Green's battle to return to golf

Sep. 18, 2009

Ken Green saw his world thrown upside down on June 8 when the RV he was traveling in on Interstate 20 near Hickory, Miss., blew a tire and veered off the highway, down a hill and smacked head-on into a tree. Green's brother and caddy, Billy; his girlfriend, Jeanne Hodgin; and his German Shepherd, Nip, were all killed. Green so

mehow survived the wreckage -- he thinks because he

was in the back of the RV when the tire blew.

Less than two weeks after the accident, Green had to make an incredibly difficult decision. Doctors told him his right leg was so damaged, he w as probably looking at multiple surgeries over the next few years and the leg still wouldn't work properly. "Can I play golf with this leg?" Green asked the doctors. When told no, Green didn't hesitate. "Then cut it off," he said. "Because I'm playing golf again

Sep. 18, 2009

"It kind of woke me up to realize this is going to be a harder battle than I anticipated," Green said. "There's a lot of things you don't even think about. ( Getting in and out of) bunkers are a nightmare. You've got downhill lies, uphill lies, sidehill l ie s. And the swing itself is so far away from a pro fessional golf swing. But I'm not w orried.

Sep. 18, 2009

"Being out on a golf course is where I have my m ost peace," Green said. "It felt good."

Sep. 18, 2009

"I lost my three best friends on the planet, there's no other way around it," he says quietly. "I know I'm lucky to be alive, but I miss them so much. It's awful. You cry all the time."

"I have pretty good faith in God and I know they're OK," he said. "But for selfish reasons, I'm having the problems because they're gone. Little things can set you off. You turn around to say, 'Baby,' but 'Baby's' gone. I refuse to let their deaths be meaningless. I have to do something