
NEW YORK -- Luke Donald has undergone surgery on his left wrist and will miss the remainder of the season, officially ending any hopes of playing on the Ryder Cup team for Europe.
Donald was forced to miss the final two majors of the year. He had surgery Monday in New York to repair a tendon injury in his wrist. He had hoped that rest would allow it to strengthen, but there was little progress.
The 30-year-old from England has played on the last two Ryder Cup teams and has a 5-1-1 record.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Andrew Weiland, who has performed a similar procedure on baseball player Jason Giambi as well as another wrist operation on former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk.
"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 Weiland. "I'm extremely pleased with how the surgery went."
Donald, injured at the U.S. Open in June, will begin strengthening exercises on the wrist in six weeks and should be able to begin chipping and putting after three months of recovery and rehabilitation.
The problem was diagnosed as a subluxation of the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon.
For the past two months the 30-year-old, a member of the last two Ryder Cup sides, tried to rehabilitate without surgery, but after seeing little progress decided to have the surgery.
"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 Donald.
"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," he added. "I am appreciative of his guidance, as well as his staff's, and look forward to working diligently at my rehabilitation and returning to action next season."
Just a week ago Donald was still hoping he might be able to avoid surgery and be a candidate for a Ryder Cup wild card.
He acknowledged, though, that he faced "one of the biggest decisions of my career" and added: "Obviously I would prefer not to have the surgery and that would be better for me in the long term, but I can only give myself so much time before I have to take matters further and decide to go for an operation.
"Surgery can be risky and that is why I've tried to avoid it at all costs," he explained. "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% of the time my wrist feels normal," he said. "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," he added. "The cup only comes around every two years, so I feel as if I'm missing out double."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press and PA Sport. All rights reserved.
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