CLEEKS CAPTAIN KAYMER BACK AFTER 6 MONTH INJURY

Kaymer has not played in a tournament since shooting a second-round 66 at last year’s LIV Golf Jeddah on Oct. 15. He withdrew before the final round due to a problematic left wrist that eventually required surgery to repair a torn tendon in mid-November, an injury that prevented him from gripping the club.

The two-time major winner and former world No. 1 missed the first three tournaments of the 2022 season-ending Miami Team Championship and the 2023 LIV Golf League. Cleeks’ backup Laurie Canter filled his place in the lineup.

Very sad that I couldn’t finish the LIV golf season in Miami, but it just wasn’t possible, Kaymer said. Since then I have been trying to work on the wrist to get back as soon as possible.

The process was slower than expected, and Kaymer admitted there were frustrating times. There are tears. There are sad moments. Those are things you can’t really control. The things I can control is working on other things that didn’t hurt my wrist.

That meant a lot of dropping and picking up. Those areas of his game will likely be in better shape than at full speed this week.

However, the most important thing is that he is back and ready to play.

It’s good for him and his psyche to be back playing, said Cleeks’ teammate Richard Bland. He had six months off, pretty much. I think if I had six months off I would yell back.

I think he fully expects Hell to be a little rusty. He hasn’t had a huge amount of training. But at some point he has to get back to playing.

One of his other Cleeks teammates, Graeme McDowell, was impressed with what he saw during practice rounds this week at Grange Golf Club.

He looks good, McDowell said. He got one of those injuries that if he waits to feel perfect, it might never happen. He just needs to get into golf strength and get fit.

I think he’s close. He just needs to get reps and get tournaments under his belt.

Cleeks is ninth in the team points, but hopeful that the return of Kaymers can spark a rise in the standings. Cleeks’ lone trophy in the first 10 regular season events last season is third place at LIV Golf Bangkok. The team scores its best result of 2023, fifth at LIV Golf Orlando.

We were obviously excited to have him back,” McDowell said. Hopefully we can get some continuity going now and get on some leaderboards.

Added Bland: He’s a class player. You definitely won’t forget how to play. It’s just some of the neat and tidy stuff that he might struggle with early on. I hope he doesn’t. It’s just good to have him back.