Rowe’s bad break
TEAM SKY’S Luke Rowe could be sidelined for a year after breaking his right leg in a freak accident on his brother’s stag do.
The Welshman, who helped Chris Froome win the Tour de France last month despite a broken hip, suffered the injury after jumping onto rocks while white-water rafting in Prague.
“It wasn’t like I was swinging from the rooftops drunk,” said Rowe, 27, whose brother, Matt, is marrying 2012 Olympic team pursuit champion Dani King.
“It was a freak accident. I’ve broken a fair few bones in my career but this was significantly worse than any of them. “It was double the pain – add the pain of a few broken bones together.
“I lifted my leg, but my foot stayed still, it was kind of hanging off, limp. “The water clearly wasn’t deep enough to jump into, but hindsight is a beautiful thing.”
Rowe, who was given permission by Sky to go on the stag party, said: “The leg is in a bad way and it will be a long road back.” GIDEON BROOKS ANDY MURRAY has pulled out of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati due to his hip injury.
The world No 1 has not played since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat by Sam Querrey, but still hopes to fit for next month’s US Open.
“I’m continuing to work hard with the aim of being in New York,” said Murray.
Last week he pulled out of the Masters 1000 event in Montreal, and Cincinnati represented a final warm-up for the US Open.
Murray could now be replaced at the top of the rankings by Rafael Nadal if the Spaniard reaches the semi-finals this week. JORDAN SPEITH says his biggest challenge this week is not the weight of expectation to become the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam but the impressive field of rivals he faces at the US PGA Championship.
After winning the Open last month, the 24-year old Texan has the opportunity to join just five other golfers in winning all four Majors. Not since Tiger Woods in 2000 has anyone joined the most exclusive club in all of golf.
After his brilliant triumph at Royal Birkdale Spieth stepped alongside Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy as the only active players to have won three Major titles. Mickelson still needs to win a US Open and McIlroy can complete the set at the Masters.
But after the euphoria of his Open win, and while admitting there will be pressure, Spieth is remarkably laid back ahead of the year’s final Major in North Carolina. “My greatest opponent this week is not the course or the weight of expectation but the players, and beating one of the best fields in golf,” he said.
“The course is extremely challenging. I don’t think it puts me at a disadvantage in any way. But the biggest challenge in winning is going to be the incredible talent that’s out there this week.
“Expectations? I really don’t feel any. This is a chance to complete the career Grand Slam. I’m here, so I’m going to go ahead and try. But I believe I’m going to have plenty of chances, and I’m young enough to believe in my abilities that it will happen at some point.
“Do I have to be the youngest? No, I don’t feel that kind of pressure. Would it be really cool? Absolutely.
“There will be pressure as this is a Major championship and one of the four pivotal weeks of the year.
“If I don’t win one in the next 10 years, then maybe there’s added pressure. Hopefully we don’t have to have this conversation in 10 years.”
If there is one rival Spieth may fear, that is McIlroy, a player with an unmatched Quail Hollow record among those competing this week.
In seven Wells Fargo Championships on the course,
SELECTED TEE TIMES (Spa) S Lowry (Ire), S Deane (Aus), P Larrazabal A Noren (Swe), S Hebert, R Knox (Sco) (Eng) H Matsuyama (Jpn), E Els (SA), I Poulter T Fleetwood (Eng), J Thomas, P Reed G Woodland, A Sullivan (Eng), K Stanley (Eng) B Watson, C Schwartzel (SA), P Casey S Garcia (Spa), B Koepka, J Spieth L Oostuizen (SA), D Willett (Eng), JB Holmes J Day (Aus), D Johnson, H Stenson (Swe) Z Johnson, L Westwood (Eng), C Hoffman S Hend (Aus), K Pigman, A Johnson (Eng) (Kor) B Horschel, M Fitzpatrick (Eng), S Kim J Walker, P Mickelson, J Dufner R McIlroy (NI), J Rahm (Spa), R Fowler M Kuchar, J Rose (Eng), B Snedeker unless stated
12:25 12:35 12:45 1:05 1:10 1:15 1:25 1:30 1:35 1:55 2:15 6:15 6:25 6:35 6:45 US