Hart's return to the TOUR suffers another setback

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Dudley Hart was forced to withdraw after three rounds of the Aussie PGA last week.

All Dudley Hart has is questions.

All he wants is answers.

Hart left Houston late Monday afternoon wondering what was next. A trip to see neurologist Dr. Arthur Day at the University of Texas Mischer Institute of Neuroscience left them both shaking their heads.

Another round of MRIs. More X-rays. Inflammation that shouldn't be there. Significant scoliosis. Two bulging disks?

Hart sighed. "Both of our memories suggest it looks significantly worse than before, but we're not sure.''

So Day is having Hart's old MRIs and X-rays sent to Houston so they can compare the before and after. The surgery Day had done in June 2009 in Boston had fused his L5 and S1 disks. Everything should be fine.

Yet it isn't.

"As you can imagine, it's disheartening,'' Hart said.

What was supposed to be a two-week jump-start Down Under for a 2011 PGA TOUR comeback hit a wall after three rounds of the Australian Open. One minute Hart was swinging his way to an opening-round 68, the next he was struggling with back spasms in the second round and more serious pain in his legs in the third round. He withdrew, apologizing to organizers and worrying about his future.

"It was a long flight home in more ways than one,'' Hart said. "A tough ride home. A tough week."

This is just the latest chapter in what has become an on-going frustration. Hart suffered a herniated disk in 2003 and played 2004 on a Major Medical Exemption. He played through until May 2009 when the same area became inflamed because the disks were bone-on-bone. Day, who was practicing in Boston at the time, did the spinal fusion.

Everyone thought it would add 15 years to Hart's career. Eighteen months later, the two-time PGA TOUR champion is on hold. Again.

He did everything he was supposed to do after the surgery. He didn't overdo anything. He had therapy. He took it slow. Didn't even take a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood for almost four months.

There were no doubts. No questions.

Until now.

He doesn't think the long plane ride to Australia had any effect on his back. He was fine when he got there and nothing really presented until Friday. He figured, in fact, if his back could hold up for that two-week stretch, he'd be fine going forward.

He's not. Hart can do the day-to-day things just fine. No pain. No problem.

But swinging a club? The torque on a back is tremendous. Just ask Fred Couples, the king of cranky backs. Or just about any other golfer on TOUR.

Any fusion affects mobility and also pushes the stress produced in a swing to other areas of the back. It's something golfers work around; one more thing they deal with.

Once Day gets the records, they'll know if their memories are correct. They'll know what they face. Hart will fly back down from Buffalo and they'll go over his options and come up with a plan. Until then, well, 2011 is on hold.

The uncertainty is tough, but Hart is staying positive. He's matter-of-fact. He'll deal with whatever is put in front of him.

For the time being, Hart plans to lose himself in Christmas. The 9-year-old triplets -- Abigail, Rachel and Ryan -- have to get to hockey practices and games. Two-month-old Avery Claire is growing -- fast. Shopping. Planning. Lots of things to get done. Maybe they'll even take in a Sabres game or two. No golf. Just more therapy for his back.

And there's just one thing on his Christmas list -- answers, not more questions.

"There are so many unknowns right now,'' he said. "Maybe it's a matter of playing one week at a time and not practicing much at all . . . .I know I'm going to play again. The question is, am I going to be able to hold up?''