Paul Goydos, one of the real good guys on the PGA Tour, played his first event in nearly 16 months last week when he teed it up in the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Goydos, who will turn 49 next week, was sidelined because of an injury to his left hand and wrist that required two surgeries.
“I need to figure out where (my game) is at,” Goydos said beforehand. “You really can’t simulate a tour event.”
Goydos, who has had to deal with tendinitis in his left wrist throughout his career, had a bone spur that was irritating a tendon removed from the wrist in March.
In October, he had another procedure to remove a bone spur from his left index finger.
“From a pain management standpoint, I’m fine,” said Goydos, whose two victories on the PGA Tour came in the 1996 Bay Hill (now the Arnold Palmer) Invitational and the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii. “But I want to give me hand a test, hitting balls seven straight days and all the rigors that go with playing a tournament.
“I’ve gone as far as I can go at home, it’s time to go out and evaluate my game. The second thing I need to evaluate is if I’m ready to compete inside the ropes and that will be based on how I handle it more than what I shoot.”
Goydos, who became one of five players in PGA Tour history to shoot 59 in the first round of the 2010 John Deere Classic, made only six starts in 2012 before being sidelined for the rest of the season.
In his first tournament back, he shot 73-72 — 145, very respectable after missing almost a year and a half, to miss the cut by four strokes. Goydos plans to play again next week at the Travelers Championship.
— By Tom LaMarre
