Ronan Rafferty has had a serious set-back to his hopes of returning to tournament action.
Instead of playing in the Desert Classic which starts in Dubai on Thursday, he is back in England with a recurring problem to his left thumb and planning a further visit to a specialist later this week.
"Obviously I'm disappointed," said Rafferty, who has not played tournament golf since last July. "My target was to make a comeback in Perth and then play in Dubai and Qatar, but that has gone by the boards. But I'm optimistic I won't have to wait much longer."
Seven Irish players - Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Eamonn Darcy, Philip Walton, John McHenry and Des Smyth - will be in action in Dubai in an event that has been switched from the Emirates Club to the equally splendid Creek layout nearby.
It will be the first outing of the season for Walton and Smyth - and they'll be in elevated company. The tournament has attracted easily the best field on the European Tour so far this year, including Mark O'Meara, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros.
There is also a sponsor's invitation for Justin Rose, last summer's British Open hero who failed to gain a player's card at November's Tour School.
Rafferty, who made only four tournament appearances last season because of injury, travelled to Australia last month with a view to competing in Perth, but after seeing a specialist in Melbourne, was forced to accept that the thumb would not survive 72 holes. So, instead of travelling on to Dubai, he returned home last weekend and thought about new targets.
There has also been disappointment for Richard Coughlan, albeit in an entirely different context. Having set his heart on getting invitations into about 15 Nike Tour events in the US this year, Coughlan has found this particular door closed to him.
"The best I could hope for would be about five invites," he said yesterday. "So I have no option other than to commit myself to the Asian Tour, where I'll he heading next month. It breaks for two months in June and July which will allow me to take up an invitation into the Murphy's Irish Open and then try to qualify for the British Open at Carnoustie."
Meanwhile, in the US, the National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach has fallen victim to the weather for a second successive year. Given that 54 holes were completed, however, it was decided to award the tournament to Payne Stewart, who was leading at that stage.
It marks something of a milestone for Stewart, giving him his 10th USPGA Tour win, four years after his last success in the 1995 Houston Open. His biggest successes were in the 1989 USPGA Championship and the 1991 US Open.
