For 15-Year-Old, Heart Condition Is No Barrier to L.P.G.A. Tour

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 29, 2007

CHARLESTON, S.C., May 28 (AP) — MacKinzie Kline was never one to wait for her chance, no matter how many surgeons or specialists told her to slow down.

Her drive will be rewarded this week. The 15-year-old Kline, who was born with a congenital heart defect, will play in her first L.P.G.A. Tour event, the $2.6 million Ginn Tribute near Charleston, which begins Thursday.

“I’m always someone who tries to bend the rules a little bit,” she said recently by phone.

Because of her medical condition, Kline cannot walk long distances without becoming fatigued. The L.P.G.A. issued a landmark ruling allowing Kline to become the first player in the organization’s history to ride a cart during her rounds.

Kline, the oldest child of Elizabeth and John Kline, was born with heterotaxy syndrome, meaning internal organs were misplaced — one ventricle in her heart instead of two, a transverse liver and no spleen.

“She was born with a heart defect that 30 years ago, we didn’t have good treatment for,” said John Lamberti, her heart surgeon at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

Kline had two heart operations before she was 2, and doctors were not sure about her life expectancy.

Her mother remembers when things began to turn. Her 4-year-old daughter had been through another checkup when a doctor said with a grin, “I’d never thought she’d do this well.”

Now, Kline, of Encinitas, Calif., has her latest chance to beat the odds on the Arnold Palmer-designed RiverTowne Country Club Course at the Belvidere Resort.

Kline had the chance to play when she received an exemption from the tournament’s host, Annika Sorenstam, who is thrilled Kline is taking part.

“What she has accomplished, not only in golf but for the community, is extraordinary,” Sorenstam said.

Kline has become a spokesman for the Children’s Heart Foundation and hopes to raise $1 million for the organization.

She aspires to join the L.P.G.A. one day and compete with young stars she will see this week, including Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel.

The L.P.G.A. will allow Kline to use a cart as well as an oxygen delivery system — it looks like a cooler, her mother says — when she needs it.

The L.P.G.A. commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, determined that Kline’s request would not give her an unfair competitive advantage.

It was not long that ago when Kline’s father bought his 5-year-old daughter some golf clubs simply for the activity.

She instantly took to the game. John Kline remembers her hitting balls in the back yard. When they were called to dinner, she would plead for more practice time. “It was unreal,” he said.

As her talent grew, so did the challenges of competitive golf. Walking full tournaments was difficult. “I try not to get tired, but I know I will,” she said.

Last year, Kline felt “fuzzier” than she had in the past. Her parents said her sleep patterns changed.

“You could tell something was wrong,” John Kline said. “Bless her soul, she had a hole in her heart.”

Doctors discovered and repaired the hole. In between, the United States Golf Association ruled that Kline could use a cart for the United States Women’s Amateur. She did not get past medal play, but followed an opening 83 with a second-day 75. Kline plans to soak up everything this week.

She says she will treat it like any of her junior events, but her parents know better. “She’s nervous,” Elizabeth Kline said. “I tell her: ‘Mac, you’re not going to let anyone down. Have fun.’ ”

Kline and her parents keep things normal around the house. They do not dwell on her condition, and she enjoys the same things as many teenagers — movies, privacy and a sloppy room, her mother says.

“Disabled is not something we say in the house,” Elizabeth Kline said.

But as hard as John Kline tries, there are days when it is difficult for him to accept that his child has a heart condition.

“You never know when it’s going to hit you in the stomach,” he said.

Kline is not sure about her future. One morning she is certain the L.P.G.A. is ahead, the next, “I think playing college golf would be fun.”

Lamberti, her surgeon, said: “What’s her future? We don’t know because she’s rewriting the book.”

Kline hopes sharing her story will prove to others they do not have to be defined by their disabilities.

“I hope it reaches a lot of people,” she said. “Kids should know they can still do the things they want.”