Luke Donald returns to RBC Heritage after back injury

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – It’s really no surprise to see Luke Donald playing well at the RBC Heritage. After all, Donald has finished among the top three in seven of the last 10 tournaments at Harbour Town Golf Links. And Thursday’s 70 was his 29th sub-par tally in his last 39 trips around the challenging Pete Dye creation. But Donald left last year’s RBC Heritage in what he called “terribleâ€� pain, the herniated L4 and L5 disks in the 40-year-old’s back contributing to a rare missed cut at the tournament. And Donald didn’t tee it up again on the PGA TOUR until eight months later at the Sony Open in Hawaii. “I just decided after this week I need to get it looked at,â€� Donald said. “I thought if I kept pushing it and pushing it, then it might lead to something worse and go down that surgery kind of case, which I didn’t want to go down.â€� So, the first treatment Donald tried was stem cell therapy with platelet-rich plasma injections.  The stem cells were taken from his hip, spun with blood and injected into his back. He couldn’t hit balls for three months as doctors waited for the treatment to take hold. Only, it didn’t. “It’s meant to kind of help regenerate the disk,â€� Donald said. “… But it didn’t really have much effect — even on the MRI it didn’t really show much of a difference after three months. “So, it was disappointing.â€� Then Donald went to what he calls a “stretching guru.â€� He worked with that therapist for several months but still didn’t experience the kind of relief he wanted. Related: Lowry cards bogey-free 65 | Featured Groups, tee times | Insider: Big week for small ball | Kisner keeps perspective as lifelong friend battles tumor Next up was more traditional physiotherapy that focused on strengthening his core muscles and “creating a little bit of space in that areaâ€� of his back. Four months in, Donald is seeing good results – on and off the golf course. “I’ve done the work now and should be — fingers crossed — in a good place,â€� Donald said.   The RBC Heritage is just Donald’s fourth start of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. He is playing on a major medical extension with 15 starts to earn enough FedExCup points to retain full membership. So far, Donald’s results have been a mixed bag. He’s missed the cut in two events but tied for ninth at the Valspar Championship where he shot 4 under for the week. Donald’s fifth and most recent TOUR victory came on that same Copperhead Course in 2012. So maybe this week’s return to Harbour Town will bring similarly strong results for the former world No. 1. “I’ve given myself a lot of opportunities and being up in contention and had a lot of chances to win and had some very high finishes here,â€� said Donald, who was 2 over on the par 5s Thursday but also had five birdies. “I like this course because a lot of the bigger guys are maybe not hitting as many drivers as I am. So, I’m hitting some of the same clubs into these greens and a lot of short irons and it’s a fiddly course, too. You have to really guide your way around it. And I like that like it has some strategy.â€�

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