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Injuries creeping into
professional golf
Golf is finally starting to look like other sports.
It's not the money. While the PGA Tour had 16 players earn at least $2 million
this season, golf is still lagging behind salaries in team sports. TV ratings
are at all-time high and growing every year, although they still aren't close
to NFL levels.
No, the reason golf can claim to be a real sport is because of injuries.
Any more, the PGA needs a DL.
At the season-ending Tour Championship in Houston, Mark Calcavecchia was asked
how many players in the elite 29-man field had made it through the year injury-free.
His face went blank, and he started to turn around and look down the practice
range.
No peeking.
``I don't think I can name one,'' he said.
This was the tournament where Tiger Woods had to squat just to stick a tee
in the ground because he injured his back while getting worked on in the fitness
trailer. Sergio Garcia complained of a sore back for the first time in his career.
He's 21.
PGA champion David Toms played with tape wrapped tightly around his wrist.
And Calcavecchia, suffering from a foot injury, has been sleeping with a large
boot on his right foot to keep his calf and heel flexible.
``It's hard to play with this,'' he said. ``All you've got to do is look at
the first four months of the year when it was fine, and what's happened since.''
Every week, the PGA Tour puts out a money list, world ranking and updated statistics.
All that's missing is an injury report.
``You're going to see more and more of it,'' said Davis Love III, who has been
plagued by back and neck injuries all season. ``I think you're going to see more
and more guys whose careers don't last as long.''
Golf is starting to sound like other sports. Ask a player for his outlook on
the season, and more often than not he'll say, ``If I can stay healthy ... ''
At least 11 players at the Tour Championship were nicked up at some point this
year, some more severely than others.
David Duval, flat on his back for 10 weeks last summer, was pounding balls
on the range in March when he felt a sharp sting in his wrist. He missed the next
three weeks, including The Players Championship.
Love took two months off heading into the U.S. Open because of back and neck
injuries. By the end of the year, he wasn't hitting more than about 30 balls on
the range to try to save his swing for when it counted.
Scott Hoch has taken more cortisone shots in his hand than he cares to remember.
Hal Sutton had a tear in the soft tissue in his lower back during the Match Play
Championship in Australia. He had four tiny bruises after a physical therapist
got done working him over.
Ernie Els had to withdraw from the Scottish Open and nearly bailed on the British
Open because of a bad back. Jim Furyk played with an injured wrist the early part
of the year. Joe Durant won consecutive starts, injured his neck and missed the
cut in nine of his last 12 events. That includes the Tour Championship, which
has no cut.
And then there's Tiger.
He got tripped up by an autograph hound at Pebble and hyperextended his right
knee. He was suffering from an Achilles injury at the U.S. Open that he still
doesn't talk about. And his back injury in Houston was the biggest scare of all.
``This is a first,'' Woods said that day. ``I don't see how it cannot concern
me.''
Why so many injuries?
Some of it is bad luck, like Tom Lehman hurting his shoulder at an amusement
park in England in 1997, or Brad Faxon falling off a ladder last year. No sport
is immune from that.
The fitness craze could be partially responsible. More players are spending
more time in the gym, when the twist motion of the golf swing is taxing enough.
Besides, how many fat guys get hurt playing golf?
``There's always nagging things,'' said Mike Weir, who said he had a ``little
neck thing'' the past few years. ``You're hitting so many balls. Your body wasn't
meant to torque that much. You always come up with little knee and shoulder things.
You always see guys in the trailer.''
Love sees a bigger problem.
Golf has become a power game, with players trying to get bigger and swing harder
to make the ball go farther.
``Guys are just not going to last as long because they're pushing themselves
to do things their bodies weren't meant to do,'' Love said. ``We've always said
golfing is not good for your back. Well, if you think hitting it 280 is not good
for your back, try hitting it 320.''
Then again, taking care of the body isn't always enough in golf. Take it from
Jesper Parnevik, who has battled shoulder problems and had hip surgery last year.
``My shoulder is fine. My hip is fine,'' he said. ``My brain, I'm not so sure
about.''
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