( CNN ) -- When George McNeill went to bed Saturday , he did n't envision the round of his life the next day at The Greenbrier Classic . He had a lot on his mind . But that 's exactly what he did at the PGA event , shooting a career-low 61 -- including a hole-in-one on the 8th hole . With the sensational final day of the tournament at White Sulphur Springs , West Virginia , McNeill finished second to Angel Cabrera and qualified for golf 's next major , The Open Championship later this month in Merseyside , England . A memorable outing for sure . But it 's not the full story . The PGA had tweeted Sunday that McNeill was `` dealing with family health issues this week . '' That was in reference to his older sister , Michele , 46 , who was dying from breast cancer , according to Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel . McNeill had already announced that he had withdrawn from the John Deere Classic , which starts Thursday , to be with his family . Michele died just 20 minutes before McNeill 's tee time , and he got the news after he finished his round . Afterward , he emotionally alluded to `` things going on elsewhere '' and got choked up when interviewed by CBS analyst Peter Kostis . `` I know it 's really difficult , and I will not press the issue with you , but sometimes perspective comes in different forms , does n't it ? '' Kostis asked . `` It does , '' McNeill answered . `` Yeah , you go out and , you know , golf does n't really mean a whole lot , so it 's hard . I played good today , and I 'm glad to finish , and it was a nice middle part of the round . So like I said , golf does n't mean a whole lot sometimes . ''
McNeill had a hole-in-one and shot 61 at The Greenbrier Classic . But his splendid day is overshadowed by the death of his sister from cancer . A year after her death, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.