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Golfer Jason Bohn talks about heart attack at 2016 Honda Classic

Posted at 7:45 PM, Feb 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-23 04:21:15-05

In this year’s Honda Classic, 144 players are hoping to stand tall and hoist this year's trophy on Sunday. 

However, Jason Bohn almost didn't make it to this year's main event. 
 
The pro golfer was playing in the 2016 Honda Classic when he knew something was wrong.
 
“As I would walk to my ball, I kinda felt a tightness in my chest, a shortness of breath,” he says.

“I was truly believing that I was going to get some sort of Z-Pak and be on my way.”
 
What he didn't realize is that he was having a heart attack.  Bohn was rushed to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. 
 
“He had coronary artery disease with a very significant blockage in the widow maker artery,” His doctor Jyoti Mohanty says. “He could've actually died from it.”
 
His doctor, Jyoti Mohanty, tells me it's not surprising to see this happen to golfers. 
 
“Going up hills, going into the ditches, coming up, bending down…a little bit of exertion could precipitate an underlying condition or unmask something,” he says.
 
Doctors were able to clear the blockage and save his life. 
 
Bohn returned to the hospital Wednesday to thank the staff, all the while keeping up his sense of humor.

“I did play the ‘Bear Trap’, and [shot] even par while suffering a heart attack,” he said, laughing.

He says his story provides a cautionary tale.

“If you have any sort of symptoms, just go get them checked out,” he says. “Because you just don't know.” 
 
As for his play at this year's Classic - he can only make one promise. 
 
“I will stay out of the back of an ambulance…and stay out of hospitals,” he says. “I think I'll be able to accomplish that.”

Bohn also credits the heart attack with saving his mother’s life.

She went in for a stress test weeks after his heart attack just to make sure her heart was healthy. 

It turns out she needed triple bypass surgery. 

He says considering his heart attack saved his mother's life, it was worth it.