Christy O'Connor Jnr. is battling to pull off the greatest recovery of his career. But this time it's not a fiendish bunker shot, a nasty chip from the deep rough or a pressure cooker two-iron over a lake.

After breaking his left leg in two places in a freak accident last month, O'Connor is simply fighting to walk again. "I thought I might be able to get back for the summer but my specialist tells me that's impossible, compeltely out of the question," he said this week. "So I'll take up again next season and play a reduced scehule of events and just enjoy myself."

But the fun-loving Galwayman is devasted that he won't be able to take his place in the Open Championship at Lytham in July or bid for a hat trick of Senior British Open titles at Royal County Down.

Said Christy: "It's very saddening because I think Lytham this year was my last chance to play in the Open and I don't think they'll offer me another exemption for next year. "I had a huge year set up both in the States and in Europe but being realistic I don't think I'll be hitting balls again until the back end of the year."

Instead of battling the Gary Players of the world, O'Connor is facing a year of pain and physiotherapy. O'Connor had planned to play one final season on the US Senior Tour this year and then pick and choose his appearances in 2002. But that's all changed now. "I have thirteen pins and two bolts in my leg and I have to take eleven pills every morning. "

I have a cage on my leg and I have to hop around on crutches so there's no way I can stand up straight with a club," said O'Connor from his Dublin home. "I have physio three times a week and it's painful, but really it's amazing how we take our legs for granted."

So instead of playing top courses, O'Connor will be designing them instead "Yes, I have some huge golf course projects to keep me busy. One is in negoitioation at Palmerstown Castle in Naas and then I hope to spend about six months down in Nerja, in Spain," he revealed. "But it's very uncomfortable at the moment and night time is just awful."

Although he has been highly successful since he won his exemption for the US Senior Tour, living out of a suitcase in America is just not this cup of tea. "It's not an easy life," he said at the end of last season. "I'm based in Florida but it doesn't compare to Ireland and I love coming back home even thought the rewards are fantastic in the US."

But this latest setback, which required what his wife called "a difficult operation", almost signalled a premature end to an illustrious 31-year career with a third place in the Open at Royal St George's, four European Tour wins and nine other International victories.

But this is not O'Connor's first injury scare. He had serious elbow problems in 1996 and 1997 but recovered thanks to magnetic treatment to play some of the best golf of his life. This time it's much more serious but O'Connor is no stranger to adversity and as he himself said this week, it was just a domestic accident, not a tragedy.

"I wasn't out on the road or anything. I haven't got a scratch apart from the leg, thank God, so it could have been a lot worse." After the tragic loss of his youngest son Darren in a traffic accident in September 1998, O'Connor knows all about real life tragedy. It was in an effort to take his mind off the loss of his son that the Ryder Cup hero travelled to the US and fought for the right to play on the lucrative US Senior Tour by winning an exemption.

And he took adantage of it too, going on to win two tournaments and over $700,000 in his rookie year and eventually finishing in 26th place on the money list. But it was in the middle of that season that O'Connor Jnr. pulled off one the most emotional victories of a career by claiming the Mastercard Senior British Open at Royal Portrush. "Part of this championship is his," he said at the time. "I don't believe I would have had the strength to win without him."

Defending the title at Royal County Down last year, O'Connor's eldest son Nigel was caddie as he birdied the treacherous par-five 18th to kill off John Bland's title challenge. It was a typically magical golfing moment from a man who seems to specialise in making the seemingly impossible look natural. From the time he hit that 229-yard two-iron over the lake at the Belfry that tore the hear tout of Fred 'Boom Boom' Couples and gave Europe the 1989 Ryder Cup, O'Connor Jnr has been one Ireland's and Europe's golfing immortals.

Those Senior Open wins and his barnstorming performances on the US Senior Tour have made him one of the great golfing success stories of recent years. With a little bit of luck, and a lot of physio, Junior will be back.

Shorts

Michael McDermott - Padraig Harrington's accuracy as an amateur inspired Stackstown youngster Michael McDermott to his West of Ireland Open triumph over Michael Hoey.

McDermott, 21, blasted the ball miles last season but won nothing after his early triumph in the Transvaal Open. But he changed his swing to mimic the way former clubmate Harrington won the same title back in 1994.

"They said Padraig was a short hitter when he was an amateur, so I changed my swing and swapped distance for accuracy," admitted McDermott. "He obviously hits it huge now, but he was the best amateur in the country at the time and for the amateur game, distance is not as important." McDermott was hitting the ball well over 300 yards off the tee last season. "I used to just give it a lash," he says. Not any more, it seems.

Graeme McDowell looks like a racing certainty to make the GB and I Walker Cup team to face the USA in Georgia in August.

Said the 21 year-old: "I'd love to play in the competition. It would be a huge honour." The Portrush lad appears to relish playing in the States. The number one player for the University of Alabama, McDowell even teed it up in this week's Shell Houston Open, his prize for winning the Shell-sponsored South of Ireland championship at Lahinch last year.

And while the Walker Cup team won't be announced until June, McDowell's six individual titles last year, including the World Universities crown, make him an odds-on favourite to make the side.

Irish golf fans will have to choose between two great events from May 11-13 next.

While Noel Fox defends his Ulster Bank Irish Amateur Open title at Royal Dublin, the AIB Irish Seniors Open goes ahead at beautiful Powerscourt.

Last year's Irish Seniors champion Bruce Fleisher has yet to confirm his presence, but Cork's Denis O'Sullivan is a definite starter. O'Sullivan, 53, only turned professional four years ago, but he has already made a name for himself on the Seniors Tour by winning twice last season.

Eamonn Brady's win on the Canadian Tour in February has set him up for three years in the comfort zone. But the 26 year-old Dubliner is determined to come home and win a European Tour card.

Having missed out on full Canadian Tour status, Brady was a initially a reserve but finally got into the field for the Myrtle Beach Open and eventually made history by won by three strokes.

Said Brady: "The win gave me a lot of confidence and a three-year exemption on the Canadian Tour but I'm still going to try for my European Tour card next September.

"Winning is an unbelievable feeling but I've booked flights home in June because I'm hoping to get invites into the Murphys Irish Open and the Smurfit European Open," he revealed.

"Then I'll go back for the rest of the Canadian season and try and win again before coming home again for the Qualifying School without the pressure of having nowhere to play next season if I don't get through. "Canada's a great introduction to the professional game but I'm determined to play in Europe. "

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© Brian Keogh 2001

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