News
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel says he's out for season with wrist injury
Andy Lyons
A wrist injury that has already hampered Charl Schwartzel’s 2019 season now is causing it to come to a premature end and it will potentially cost him a chance at playing in a fifth consecutive Presidents Cup.
The 34-year-old former Masters champion from South Africa posted this news on social media on Saturday:
Schwartzel wasn’t specific about the injury, but it also caused him to withdraw from the PGA Championship last month and kept him from competing in U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying on Monday.
So far in 2019, Schwartzel has had just one top-10 finish—a T-6 at the Puerto Rico Open in February. He has missed eight cuts in 13 starts, the last cut made on the PGA Tour coming at the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship in March, where he finished T-61.
Schwartzel started the year at No. 79 on the Official World Ranking but has since fallen to No. 135. It’s the first time he’s been outside the top 100 since 2008. Two years ago at this time he was ranked 16th in the world.
He also ranks 171st on the FedEx Cup points list. If he is sidelined for the remainder of the 2018-’19 season, he will likely get to play starting in the fall on a medical extension.
Depending on how long the injury lingers, Schwartzel is unlikely to be able to play in Australia at December’s Presidents Cup. He will struggle to qualify on points, and unless he is fully healed, would be a long shot to grab a captain’s picks from countryman Ernie Els. Schwartzel has played in the competition the last four times it has been held, posting a 7-8-1 record.