Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson travelled to Dublin today still not sure whether he will be fit enough to play The 3 Irish Open starting at Baltray on Thursday.
The 28-year-old took a three-week break after his Masters debut last month, but just when he was due to return the recurrence of an old neck injury forced him out of The Players Championship last week.
‘I'm flying to Dublin, will have some physio on it and then just see how it is,’ said Wilson, who had to pull out of two events with the same problem last year and had it again at Bay Hill in March.
‘I played nine holes this morning, but it's still not right.’
He is also battling with a chest condition called costo chondritis, an inflammation where ribs join with the cartilage that holds them to the sternum.
‘It's not career-threatening or anything, but I had an MRI scan last week to try to get to the bottom of it.
‘It's a shame because I'm really excited about playing again after my rest.
‘I flew to Florida last Thursday, practised at Lake Nona and then went to Sawgrass. But after one hole on Wednesday I felt the neck go again.’
Wilson, still to win his first European Tour event after seven runner-up finishes, is hoping to play the next four weeks before returning to the States for the US Open.
Star attraction at Baltray will inevitably be Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington, keen to shine after going since mid-January without a top 10 finish.
The Dubliner was a disappointing 35th in The Masters, missed the cut two weeks ago in North Carolina and then was down in 49th spot at The Players.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy has returned from the States too and is anxious to hit back from missing the cut by seven shots last week.
The 20-year-old's second-round 77 was his highest round of a year in which he has won in Dubai and made the world's top 20 at a younger age than anybody except Sergio Garcia.
Wilson, Harrington and McIlroy will all be interested in the outcome of Wednesday night's meeting of the players committee.
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie is seeking an increase in the number of wild cards.
America won last September after doubling their captain's picks from two to four. Montgomerie may be seeking the same, but is thought likely to accept just one more if that is the committee's view.
Wilson would have been the one to fail to qualify automatically under last year's system, where five players won places in Nick Faldo's team off the world rankings and then five off the European money list.
If there is to be an extra wild card one of those will come down to four.
