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Parnevik easing back into competitive play after long rehab from back issue

By PA Sport
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Parnevik easing back into competitive play after long rehab from back issue

Jesper Parnevik took his first tentative steps back into competitive golf on Wednesday, and admitted: "This could be very embarrassing." The 45-year-old veteran from Sweden feared his career was over in February when he was found to have a fractured vertebrae. But just two days after hitting his first shots since then, Parnevik was testing himself in the Nordea Scandinavian Masters pro-am on Wednesday afternoon and would then decide whether to play the tournament itself on Thursday. The 1994 British Open runner-up was saved from spinal fusion surgery by a Michigan doctor who recommended a rehab program instead. "It's going slower than I was hoping for,” Parnevik admitted on Wednesday. "I've also got sciatica down a leg and I'm pretty much only here because it's my home event. I had liquid put into my spine and an injection into my hip as well. A few doctors thought I should fuse it, but then I found this guy and he thought I could postpone the operation. "Yesterday was the first time I hit a driver and since I haven't walked yet I don't know how that's going to affect it, so I'm just going to see,” he said. "The first time I saw the specialist, he said I had 5 percent functionality and then in May he thought it was about 15 percent. So the rehab is going in the right direction and he thinks I can get back to about 80 percent in time, but if I feel like I can't break 80 then there's no use playing. "And even if the hip does not flare up, I'm going to have to rethink my practice habits because I've been known to hit a lot of balls,” he added. "There was no way I could continue playing the way I was. The 68 I shot at Riviera (his last event) was a miracle -- in the second round the last few tee shots I hit only went about 100 yards. It was either going straight left or the dreaded duck hook because I couldn't get through the ball. "They don't know when the fracture happened, but the hip was just worn out."