Earlier this week, Rory Sabbatini was presented with a cake in honor of his 600th birthday.th Start of PGA Tour career.
A sweet reminder that Sabbatini is getting older at 46.
“Like I told my wife, I said my body breaks faster than a Twinkie in the hand of a fat kid,” Sabbatini joked Friday afternoon at the Valspar Championships, where he turned back time and enjoyed a hearty Copperhead layout while shooting 6- under 65 to get their first haircut since the beginning of November.
“It’s been so long since I’ve played four rounds,” he added. “I don’t know if my legs will last the next two days.”
Sabbatini after a year and one day did not have surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus. An injury forced him to pull out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March, where Sabbatini went viral for staying on the golf course to play the last six holes and even clear bunkers for his third-round opponent Anirban. Lahiri.
“To those very kind viewers who commented on the API that I am faking an injury, and others who DMed me that it is unprofessional to refuse it, kiss me in $$,” wrote Sabbatini on Intagram shortly after the operation. “To everyone who supported me, I can only say thank you. I hope to go back there soon and become stronger.”
Sabbatini returned nine weeks later for the Wells Fargo Championship where he tied for 41st.st.. He made eight of his next 13 cuts, albeit by a wide margin when he only posted two top 25 topped T-66s at Mayakob, his last cut until this week.
Following Mayakoba, Sabbatini missed seven cuts in a row – and he seemed to be heading for the eighth in a row after the opening of Valspar in 74. up the leaderboard.
“Like I told my caddy yesterday, I said everything was close. I wasn’t that far away. I felt it was there. It was a little different,” Sabbatini said. “Unfortunately, this is a golf course where when you deviate a bit, you put on the electronic brake and definitely handcuff yourself and you don’t swing here. If you swing well and make some quality shots here, you kind of start to get a little looser and you can really take advantage of this golf course.”
Full results of Valspar Championship
With Sabbatini back in action on the PGA Tour weekend – he’s just four steps away from the lead – the Slovak Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo was asked about Paris in two years’ time.
Ranked 353rd in the Official World Golf Rankings, Sabbatini gave another honest answer.
“Paris 2024 has been on my mind for a long time, but after my knee broke last year and all that, it was almost like smoke and mirrors,” Sabbatini said. “I don’t think it will happen. I’d love to, but I don’t know if it will work.”
Source: www.golfchannel.com
