Thornton puts surgery behind him to stage final bid

Simon Thornton hopes his injury worries are a thing of the past as he prepares for the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship Irish qualifier at Carton House Golf Club.

The Tulfarris Golf Resort professional played in last year’s grand final at Luttrellstown Castle and finished joint 30th, just three months after undergoing an operation on both feet.

And 12 months on, he is hoping he can concentrate fully on a return to the £78,000 event which will be staged at Little Aston Golf Club in Sutton Coldfield between July 24-27.

Before that, he will be trying to qualify at the Co Kildare venue on May 21.

“My game was a bit hit and miss last year as I was coming back from injury,” said the Co Down based player.

“The final came too early for me really. I was suffering from Morton's neuroma, a painful foot condition that affects one of the nerves between the toes,” he said.

“it’s excruciating and you never know when it’ll come on. I had to have physic and Cortisone injections, shortly after that I had it operated on, it was on St Patrick’s Day,  and it was nine months of hell. That’s when the pain first came on.

“But I got through that and I was concentrating more on walking than playing golf. So Luttrellstown Castle was a bit too early for me. I had both feet done so I had bandages on each one to start with.

“I could walk gingerly after two or three weeks.

“I could have finished higher in the final, but I didn’t have the best final round.”

Now Thornton has been pain-free more over a year and feels better prepared this time.

“The injury is done and dusted now, it’s not to be recommended,” he said.

“I expected to play last year but I didn’t expect to play good golf.

“I slowly got back to my normal self and my expectations about getting to the final are higher than they were last year.

“I’ve been playing quite nicely in events so far this year so that’s encouraging for me.”