Donald has wrist surgery, will miss rest of season

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Luke Donald underwent successful surgery on his left wrist Monday and will miss the remainder of the 2008 PGA TOUR season as he works through the necessary rehabilitation and training schedule.

Donald

The surgery was performed by Dr. Andrew Weiland, who has performed a similar procedure on baseball player Jason Giambi as well as another wrist surgery on fellow PGA TOUR player Jim Furyk, at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

"The injury Luke suffered is not all that uncommon for golfers and baseball players and I'm confident he will make a full recovery with the proper rehabilitation and training," said Dr. Weiland. "I'm extremely pleased with how the surgery went."

Donald will begin strengthening exercises on the wrist in six weeks, and should be able to begin chipping and putting after three months of recovery and rehabilitation.

Donald first suffered the injury during the final round of the U.S. Open in June and was diagnosed with a subluxation of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris (ECU) tendon. At that time, he opted to try and rehabilitate the injury without surgery, but after seeing little progress he decided to have the surgery after consulting with Dr. Weiland.

"While there is never a good time for an injury, the timing of this injury was especially disappointing for me considering that it forced me to miss the Open Championship and it comes in a Ryder Cup year," said Donald. "But taking proper care of it is my highest priority and I'm encouraged by Dr. Weiland's experience with this type of injury and his outlook towards my recovery and rehabilitation. I am appreciative of his guidance, as well as his staff's, and look forward to working diligently at my rehabilitation and returning to action next season."