Ailments behind golfer Bowditch's slump
Australian Steven Bowditch has revealed injury and dental problems that contributed to a horror run of form leading into this week's Masters.
Bowditch's game dropped away alarmingly, with his scoring average over his last 19 rounds ballooning to 75.58.
He failed to even break 80 in six of his last 10 rounds before arriving at Augusta National.
While reluctant to use excuses, the stoic Queenslander has tendonitis in his left wrist, requiring cortisone injections, and recently also suffered through major dental surgeries, including five root canals.
The surgeries and subsequent recovery produced significant disruption but, rather than take time off, Bowditch pressed hard trying to get himself into the recent WGC-Match Play field.
It backfired as he not only miss the elite tournament but his driver swing deteriorated and he picked up bad habits which he is now battling to fix.
"I just seriously underestimated how much the oral surgeries and the wrist would affect my game," Bowditch told AAP.
"I don't like to make excuses. Playing with pain is part of golf sometimes but in hindsight maybe I should have taken some time off.
"I spent an entire month in and out of the dentist and at one point was in the chair for two full consecutive days from morning to night and it was just tough.
"My wrist has multiple cysts in it and I've just had another injection, which I have had to do throughout my career, so I hope that also can settle down."
Unfortunately for Bowditch the cortisone injections usually take three weeks to produce full results and he had his just a week ago after being advised not to mix it with his dental issues.
That adds up to his second Masters tilt being a tough one as he is missing both sides of the fairway off the tee.
"The reality is I dug myself a deep hole playing through the wrist problem earlier this year, trying to qualify for the match play," Bowditch said.
"It has manifested into some issues and all I can do is keep battling away to get it right.
"I'm not sure when I'll get it back under control but the game is obviously not in great shape at all. I am still working on it. It's nowhere near where I want it to be obviously being here at Augusta."
Adding to his woes, the burly Bowditch revealed his training regime, where he lost 30 pounds trying to be as fit as the top players in the world, has also affected his swing sequence.
