The bad news first – looks like I am out of action for at least three weeks. The shoulder injury I sustained before the Masters refuses to heal.

I have no idea when exactly I picked up the injury, but it has been bothering me for some time. Fortunately, the scans showed no tear, but that is also the frustrating part. I was told that a couple of weeks rest and physio would get me up and running once again, but that did not happen.

I withdrew from the PGA Tour’s Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town last week to give myself an extra seven days to recover. But the pain and the swelling returned when I started practicing again. In the end, I had to be given a dose of cortisone earlier this week to manage the inflammation and the fluid accumulation.

The next step of the rehab is for three weeks. I have pulled out of this week’s tournament in New Orleans and next week’s Quail Hollow Championship and the Italian Open on the European Tour.

As things stand, there is no way I can give myself any chance of qualifying for the Players Championship. I will really miss playing Quail Hollow, because I absolutely love the golf course and the quality of the field that assembles there. Both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – world No1 and 2 – have entered for that tournament.

The same applies to Players as well. I don’t think I need to say how much the pros are in awe of the Pete Dye-designed TPC Sawgrass.

More importantly, it puts a spanner in my plans as far as qualifying for the US Open at Pebble Beach is concerned. Unless I play out of my shoes in the Texas events, I think I will have to play the Sectionals. The Texas events – Valero Texas Open, Byron Nelson and Colonial – are very close to my heart, since Abilene Texas University happens to be my alumni.