Mike Weir won’t have the chance to try to salvage one of the worst seasons of his PGA Tour career.
The left-hander from Bright’s Grove, Ont., has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow and likely won’t hit another competitive golf shot until 2011.
Weir has been playing with pain for nearly two months, regularly icing his arm and seeking treatment from PGA Tour physiotherapists while struggling through the most important stretch of the season. The 40-year-old thought he was suffering from tendinitis, but decided to seek further medical attention at last week’s Wyndham Championship after an eye-opening conversation with a fellow pro who recognized the symptoms.
“I talked to Scott McCarron last week and he really kind of convinced me to go get an MRI,” Weir told The Canadian Press yesterday. “He told me he had done the same thing — he played with (pain) while getting therapy on (his forearm) and he kept tearing (the ligament) worse and worse. By the time he went and got an MRI, it was completely torn off and he had to have surgery and take a year off.”
Fortunately, Weir’s prognosis is better than that. He plans to rest the elbow and seek alternative treatments, hoping the ligament will heal on its own so he can avoid surgery and a long layoff.
Even though the season is nearing its end, the news still hit hard. Weir failed to qualify for the FedExCup playoffs, which begin this week, but had been hoping to enter some of the fall series events that follow.
