Jesper Parnevik may have to quit due to injury

THE colourful Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik says he may have to quit golf because of a broken vertebrae in his lower back.

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour and runner-up to Nick Price in the 1994 Open at Turnberry, Parnevik has revealed that doctors say he needs to undergo joint fusion surgery, "which means I can't play anymore".

Parnevik had emergency back surgery earlier this week that will keep him from playing for at least a month. The 44-year-old said a more advanced operation that could risk his career "seems inevitable".

Parnevik had surgery on his right hip last year and did not play a tournament until Q-school in December, when he withdrew before the six rounds were over because he wasn't ready.

The back problems forced him to withdraw from the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles last week and he will now visit a physiotherapist in Detroit next week in a last-ditch attempt to prolong his career.

"I'll have to hope for a miracle if there's going to be any more competitive golf," said Parnevik, who once employed Tiger Woods' Swedish wife, Elin, as a nanny and was responsible for introducing them but says he now regrets that and has lost all respect for golf's No 1 player as a man and a father.