Marc Warren’s battles with a shoulder injury appear to be behind him and he’s already on a charge through the final weeks of the European Tour season to get back where he belongs.
The three-time Tour winner suffered a rotator cuff injury earlier ion this season which has finally managed back to health without surgery that would have probably cost him the rest of this season. A second place at last week’s Portugal Masters was the reward, and he’s comfortably made the cut at Close House in the British Masters this weekend.
“It was doubly frustrating because I haven’t had a lot of injury in my career; it seemed to be happening all at once because I also had a thumb problem,” he said after a three-under 67. “I basically didn’t have the tools to go to war out there.
“The first event I played pain-free since Dubai was Paul’s event (the Matchplay) and I’ve felt since then I’ve played well and shooting some good scores.”
Warren was advised to have surgery but opted for two cortisone injections. The first was ineffective after only about 20 days, but the second allowed him to exercise the shoulder, which was necessary to make the problem heal.
“The fact I was told I had to work my shoulder was a big thing mentally as I’d felt until then that rest was going to be the only cure,” he said. “That made it easier for me to go out and practice.
“I felt I was battling with my game in the height of the summer as my swing felt technically poor. It is good to be coming through the other side now with no niggles or pain.”
Warren had even entered Tour School but after his finish in Portugal leapt him to 100th on the Race to Dubai, and with the Dunhill next week being an event he usually does well, he’s confident again.
“I didn’t look at my Race to Dubai position because I knew there was no point,” he said. “I was just trying to convince myself if I played well in this run of tournaments, which will be 10 in a row, I could turn things around in that respect.”
Richie Ramsay returned a second successive 69 with a strong finish of a birdie at the last, holing for 45 feet to finish at six-under for the championship to lie tied 10th going into the weekend.
“Again, solid today and I gave myself chances, one schoolboy error (for a bogey at 15) but I kept the momentum going,” he said.
“Patience is always the key and after so many years out here now it’s something that comes to you gradually. I was pretty happy and there were a couple of moments I holed good ones to keep myself going forward.”
Scott Jamieson also matched his score from Thursday, a 68 putting him in good shape for a strong weekend.
Three other Scots rallied well to make the cut on the mark, Stephen Gallacher surviving despite a bogey at the last while David Drysdale shot a 67 with three birdies on the back nine to make it on two-under.
Duncan Stewart’s eagle three on the sixth – his 15th – was the key blow to getting the Grantown-on-Spey man into the weekend, but his friend Russell Knox couldn’t recover from an opening round 74 despite a two-under 68 yesterday.
