Miguel Angel Jimenez’s skiing mishap that resulted in the Spaniard breaking his right leg just continues a long line of injuries sustained off the course by some of the game’s leading players.
Thr 48-year old Jimenez faces five months of rehabilitation after snapping his leg skiing in Spain’s Sierra Nevada on Saturday.
The former Ryder Cup player, who now misses out on contesting next week’s Volvo Champions event in South Africa, was taken to a nearby hospital and successfully underwent surgery, but is nevertheless now expected to miss much of the 2013 season.
“It will take me three, four or five months to fully recover and play again at a competitive level,” said Jimenez, according to widespread reports.
Miguel Angel Jimenez will be face a balancing act on crutches after snapping his leg in a Spanish ski mishap. (Photo – Jenny Matthews/www.golffile.ie)
“I have been playing well but that’s just the way it goes in life.”
Those other players to have sustained injuries on either snow or water in recent years include.
PAUL CASEY –
England’s Paul Casey missed the defence of his 2012 Volvo Champions event and a handfull of other tournaments after dislocating his shoulder in a snow-boarding accident in Colorado.
The accident also ruined Casey’s chances of qualifying for the European Ryder Cup team.
THOMAS LEVET –
French ace Thomas Levet broke his leg jumping into the water in celebrating his 2011 French Open success. Victory earned Levet an Open Championship tee time but his victory leap into the hazard surrounding the 18th green saw him having to put his feet up for two months.
ADAM SCOTT –
Scott twisted his knee in December 2008 when he stumbled in a sand depression after leaving the surf on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
The injury has forced Scott to pull out of the Australian PGA and Australian Open tournaments.
ERNIE ELS –
Ernie Els had to undergo an operation on his left knee in July 2005 when he fell off a banana boat while on a family holiday in the Mediterranean.
The South African, who had just finished 35th in The Open at St. Andrews, was side-lined for the remainer of the season.
RETIEF GOOSEN –
The double Major winning Retief Goosen was side-lined for some months after injuring his leg in a skiing mishap. Then in August, 2011 Goosen /broke a toe following a freak accident in the driveway of his Florida home. Mindful of the fast approaching Hurricane Irene on the US eastern seaboard, Goosen decided to move his boat into the garage but in the process the front wheel of the trailer ran over his right foot fracturing his big toe.
