LUKE DONALD and Tiger Woods are both out of the Ryder Cup – and there is a case to be made that Donald is the bigger loss.
Donald underwent wrist surgery in New York on Monday after two months of hoping it might not be necessary. Like Woods, he is out for the rest of the season.
The world number one would have earned his sixth cap in Louisville next month while Donald
would almost certainly have been selected for his third.
Woods, though, has a record of only 10 wins, two halves and 13 defeats, whereas the English player has five victories, one half and just one loss – and with Sergio Garcia as his foursomes partner has four wins out of four.
Now Nick Faldo will have to find a new partner for the Spanish star. Or perhaps an old one as Lee Westwood's record with Garcia reads four wins, one half and one defeat.
What Donald's operation has done is reduce the number of candidates for Faldo's two wild cards at the end of this month.
If the top 10 stay as they are at the moment, Open runner-up Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke are the main contenders – probably in that order going into the final three qualifying events.
"The injury Luke suffered is not all that uncommon for golfers and baseball players and I'm confident he will make a full recovery with the proper rehabilitation and training," said Dr Andrew Weiland, who has performed a similar procedure on baseball player Jason Giambi as well as another wrist operation on former US Open champion Jim Furyk.
"While there is never a good time for an injury, the timing of this injury was especially disappointing for me considering that it forced me to miss the Open Championship and it comes in a Ryder Cup year," said the 30-year-old.
"But taking proper care of it is my highest priority and I'm encouraged by Dr Weiland's experience with this type of injury and his outlook towards my recovery and rehabilitation."
Just a week ago he was still hoping to avoid surgery, saying: "It can be risky and that is why I've tried to avoid it at all costs. I have damaged some connective tissue in my left wrist which holds one of the tendons in place.
"You could say that the tendon is dislocating, but it is not an actual dislocation.
"The good news is that there is nothing wrong with the tendon itself and, if I was an ordinary member of the public, it wouldn't make too much difference to my life. The fact is that 95 per cent of the time my wrist feels normal. It's just that when it flexes in certain positions when I try to swing a club, the tendon pops out.
"It has all been hugely frustrating and it is particularly annoying that this has happened to me in a Ryder Cup year.
"The cup only comes around every two years, so I feel as if I'm missing out double."
The full article contains 518 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
