Ailing Clark hope to defend title at the Players Championship

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Clark (FSY) become TPC Sawgrass next month for The Players Championship, where last year he captured his first victory on the PGA Tour with the largest 36-hole comeback in the tournament's history.If he still plays golf issue.Clark cope with an elbow injury so severe that he went three months without playing, and only the masters teed as he was stubborn. He had rounds of 73-73 and missed the cut. "I've had lots of treatment done, and all I can do to get better, "said Clark on Tuesday. "It has been a slow process. I hope I can tee it in The Players Championship at the moment. I'm still pretty unsure how it will be then. Play or not, I ask at Sawgrass for the week. I only hope I will be able to play.Only two other players have failed to defend on The players – Jerry Pate (FSY) 1983 due to a neck injury and Steve Elkington (FSY) in 1998 because of sinus surgery.Clark started his season with a tie for 17th on Sbs and a runner-up finish at the Sony Open. After flew home to North Carolina, he began experiencing pain in his left knee. South African tried a cortisone shot, even blood spinning without much progress. A therapist on Augusta suggested source can be a pinched nerve.He hopes that this is the case, although he concedes that the diagnosis is "a bit of a question mark." In some respects, it was a success for Clark to finish two rounds at the masters. "At no point did me much good there, "Clark said. "After Thursday, I really think not that I could play Friday. One-and-a-half hours before the round, we got my arm that moves, and it was kind of OK to play. It was more a case of me being stubborn, don't actually want to withdraw. I was encouraged by the fact that I could finish two rounds, although I was still quite a bit of pain and encouraged that I did not shoot a pair of 80s. "The Players Championship starts May 12, to give Clark three full weeks to try to get ready. "I think I have to go in with the same mindset in The players, "he said. "Although I am not 100% right now, I have to plan your play and probably go through the same process. Although it is a little sore, get work and try to get to where I can at least compete.A glimmer of good news for Clark, his wife gave birth to their first child, a boy, Jack, on 1 April. Clark's plan was to compete in the Masters and then take some time off to be with his family. He has had plenty of time at home lately. "When I go back to health, I be back to play more, "he said. "Hopefully, I get better soon. But it was nice to spend time at home with the newborn. He has been great. "Will the public: The Royal & Ancient Chief Executive Peter Dawson feels the PGA and European tours should start going public with their discipline players.United States tour does not disclose when a player is fine, and the European Tour is usually such matters quietly. It made an exception when Tiger Woods (FSY) was shown on TV spitting on green in Dubai because of the enormous publicity. Woods apology later on Twitter. "I don't want to give the impression in any manner that the standards of behaviour in golf are poor, "Dawson told the Association Press on Tuesday at the Royal St. George 's. "I think they are very high, and golf is still held up as a model for many other sports. These special events that we get a lot of publicity and rightly so. "In terms of what the tour disciplinary policy should be concerned about whether it should be made public, I think if you look at the world of sport, which has become the norm," he said. "There are many good reasons for keeping quiet, but I believe it is possibly something that those tours that make this should look at the Change, because I believe that these things are in the public domain has many benefits – especially now that golf is an Olympic sport."Name: Engraving the name of Louis Oosthuizen (FSY) on plasma pitcher has shown much easier than speaking it, even in the nine months since the South African won the Open Championship at St. Andrews. First came a reporter lame attempt to mention his name during a press conference at mastersCharl Schwartzel, only for (FSY) to Le and correct pronunciation.Then came this nugget from the Daily Mail. According to the British newspaper, Oosthuizen was a PGA Tour recently when he gave the start package a crash course on how to pronounce his name. Sure enough, confessed to starting packages, introducing him as "Loo-ee WEST-high-zen."If only he had stopped there.Starter Kit then saw the initials RSA next to its name – South Africa – the and added "... from Russia."Divots: Although commanders said it would look hard at its criteria to make it too large, the officials said any changes to the current qualifications would be announced before the impact 2012 invitations. In other words, Brendan Steele (FSY) count on a trip to Augusta National next year. ... The Open Championship returns this year to Royal St. George 's, an all male Club in England. R & A Chief Executive Peter Dawson says such clubs in the United Kingdom are small in number, are older clubs and it is up to them to work within the framework of the law. He told the Association Press: "we do not use open to what I would call social engineering."... Brendan Steele became the 10 winners of the PGA Tour this year ranked outside the top 100 in the world. ... Erik Compton (FSY) is now 10th on the Nationwide Tour money list. Top 25 by the end of the year earn PGA Tour cards. ... David Duval (FSY) scored 17 birdies in the Texas Open, the same as the winner Brendan Steele. Duval also had seven double-bogeys, which explains why he stopped 19 shots of the lead. ... 10 Semifinalists for the Ben Hogan award as the top college player include three from Oklahoma State — Kevin Tway (FSY), Peter Uihlein (FSY) and Morgan Hoffman.State of the week: Of the 17 winners on the PGA Tour this year, only four ever played in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.Last words: "The color of the hair." — Kenny Perry (FSY), asked the difference between galleries on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour.