Back injury ends Ben Curtis' Dubai championship chances

"It started this morning when I was putting my shoes on and I leaned over the chair and my back and whole left side was stuck," said Curtis. "At the time I thought because it was the left side that it was a heart attack so I went to see the doctor right away. She checked me out and said it was fine, that it was just spasms."

Curtis started the day three-under par for the tournament, six shots adrift of the leaders before dropping three shots at the first three holes. Despite the back pain he claimed a birdie at the fourth, only to drop another shot at the ninth before pulling out.

"I could hardly even swing," he said. "I was hitting it 200 yards off the tee. I was just hacking around." The injury now ends any chance Curtis had of finishing in the top 60 in the Race for Dubai. The American was placed 75th in the rankings going into this weekend's event at Fanling.

"I had myself in position if I had played well over the weekend. I would probably have needed to be top five, you just never know.

"It would have been a nice thing to do but obviously now it's not going to happen. I won't be playing for a while, probably for the next three to four weeks. I just need to get home, get some rest."

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