Rheumatoid arthritis in both feet forced Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal out of next week's British Open on Wednesday and put in further doubt his career as a golfer.
The 125th Open championship, to be played at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club July 18-21, was to be Olazabal's first tournament since September.Instead, it was the fourth Open championship that the 1994 U.S. Masters champion has withdrawn from in six weeks. The arthritis also forced the 30-year-old golfer out of the English, U.S. and French Opens.
"We are sorry about his continuing problems but, having talked with his manager (Sergio Gomez), there is cause for optimism and we hope he will continue to improve," said Royal and Ancient Golf Club secretary Michael Bonallack.
"Jose Maria has tried everything to be fit in time, playing three times a week, but not on consecutive days, and after 12 or 13 holes he starts to have problems."
Olazabal first suffered from the arthritis problem toward the end of 1994.
He had an operation in January 1995, but continued to struggle and in autumn of that year withdrew from the European Ryder Cup team.
Olazabal visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and has had a variety of treatments, including homeopathy and chemotherapy, since then in a bid to make a return to the game.
After sending blood samples to a British laboratory he was put on a special diet, which Gomez said appears to be working.
"They advised him to avoid coffee, corn, yeast and onions," Gomez said."It all seems to be working because he is considerably better than he was three months ago.
"He accepts he is probably going to have to play in some pain for the rest of his life, but he does not want to make his comeback when the pain is at a level which affects his concentration."