The Duffer's Guide

Tiger Woods has inspired many a feature since we set up shop here at IGWT, but he probably wouldn't be too happy if he found out that if it wasn't for his dodgy left knee, you wouldn't be reading this feature on golf's most painful and often idiotic injuries (I just got off the phone to him actually, and he said that he's pretty chuffed about it all - Ed). So sit back (carefully) and have that first aid kit at the ready as we take you on a journey through this bone-crunching list...

1. Richard Boxall
If there's one player that knows what Tiger's going through at the moment, it's Brit Richard Boxall, who plied his trade on the European Tour during the 1980s and '90s. During the third round of the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale, Boxall's follow through at the par four ninth was so hard that his left leg shattered. Essentially, Boxall took too many swings on what was a splintered leg, causing the stress fracture to explode...
2. John Daly
John Daly was forced to retire from the 2007 Honda Classic trying to stop his backswing after being distracted by a fan taking his picture. The clicking occured immediately after Daly started his backswing. After stopping to stare at the culprit, 'Wild Thing' tried to swing again but complained immediately of pain and walked off to get treatment. Daly injured his rib area and his shoulder, and although the fan remain unidentfied, a Honda spokesman said: "Like the rest of us, she is devastated that her use of a camera resulted in an injury to John."
3. Sam Torrance
Unloading the back of his car outside his hotel at the Belfry during the 2000 Ryder Cup, accident-prone Torrance cracked his head open on a car door that someone hadn't fully closed, resulting in the glass smashing and leaving the Scot needing stitches. "Blood was spurting out all over the place. It was like something out of a Stephen King movie," he said.
4. Rocco Mediate
Following a dissapointing opening round of 77 at the 2000 USPGA Championship at Valhalla GC, Mediate pulled up a chair on the clubhouse patio to reflect on his round. As he sat down, however, the chair gave way beneath him and he hit his head on a railing, injuring his neck, shoulder and wrist. Not only was Mediate forced to withdraw from the tournament, but he also sued the manufacturers of the chair company for an undisclosed sum. Classy...
5. Jose Maria Olazabal
During the 1999 US Open, Olazabal broke a bone in his hand after punching his hotel room wall following an opening round of 75 at Pinehurst. Who would have thought a player that wears every shade of beige under the sun had so much fire within him?
6. Colin Montgomerie
Arriving as favourite for the 2003 Open at Sanwich, Monty's campaign for the Claret Jug ended before it had even begun. As Monty rushed eagerly towards the breakfast bar on day one, he promptly fell over a step, damaging his wrist and knees. Seven holes into the championship he retired injured. Oh Monty!
7. Steve Pate
Known on the PGA Tour as 'Volcano' as a result of his volatile on-course nature, Pate had an absolute nightmare of a season when it came to injuries in 1996. First, he broke his right wrist and fractured a bone in his hand after he crashed his car into the rear end of a truck at 75mph whilst trying to change the car radio. Things only got worse, however, he proceded to break his other wrist when he fell off a dock on holiday in Utah. The icing on the injury cake came when, sitting on a bike on his driveway, he was hit by a deer that was being chased around by the family dog. Pate took the whole of the year off. And what did he end up doing? "I laid on the couch and ate, basically."
8. Sam Torrance (again)
If truth be told, we could dedicate a whole list to Sam, but that wouldn't be fair on all the other berks who've injured themselves. It was at The Belfry (unlucky for some) in 1993 that Torrance had an unfortunate sleepwalking incident. Mistaking a giant urn for an intruder (stranger things have happened), Torrance ran at it and smashed it to smithereens with all his might, cracking his sternum in the proccess.
9. Vijay Singh
Two days prior to defending his Deutsche Bank Championship title in 2005, Vijay accepted a challenge from his son to play a game of table tennis at their Florida home. Singh junior was no match for his old man, however, and when Singh stretched to reach one of his son's viscious forehands, he ended up collapsing in agony. A doctor was ordered to the scene, where Singh was diagnosed as suffering from severe back spasms and consequently had to withdraw from the tournament. He later disowned his son, Qass (that's not true, by the way).
10. William Millon
Play was suspended at the final round of the 2007 Verizon Heritage due to 30mph winds that not only blew balls around the greens, but also knocked branches off trees. One particular tree branch aquainted itself with tournament official William Millon, who had to be taken to hospital after being hit. Millon somehow remained "talkative, conscious and alert" as he was shoved into an ambulance, according to tournament spokesman, Arena Burdick. Rumours that the galleries sang "you're going home in a South Carolina ambulance," are completely made up for a convenient end to this feature.