Palmer overcomes hand injury to win club championship
FORMER European Tour professional Jason Palmer (Kirby Muxloe) was forced to quit the game due to a hand injury after many months struggling to recover.
He was a leading county amateur golfer who enjoyed success around the world before he joined the paid ranks.
Although his playing days are still limited because of the wrist problems and his job as full-time caddy to Tour pro Chris Paisley, Palmer demonstrated his golfing prowess has not deserted him when he raced to his club championship at Kirby Muxloe GC.
Palmer was reinstated as an amateur several months ago.
He competed in and won the club title in 2020, but on the latest occasion he was in impressive low-scoring mode.
Indeed, he led the field by no fewer than 14 shots in the 36-holes tournament.
Palmer opened with a threeunder-par 68, then added a fiveunder 66 in his second session for his 134 total to retain his title.
He fired no fewer than six birdies in round two.
They came at 3 and 6 going out, and he had four more on the back nine, back to back at l2 and l3, another at 15 and at the par three last.
Cameron
Macken
(71-77148) was runner-up.
As a professional,
Palmer gained a worldwide reputation for his one-handed chipping as he battled his painful hand injury. He qualified for the 2015 US Open Championship at Chambers Bay, but struggled with his hand there, and a week later was forced to pull out of the BMW Open at Munich on the European Tour as his problem intensified. Despite seeking expensive medical advice in this country and abroad, including the USA, and having an operation and various treatments, nothing proved to be successful. Palmer admitted he “loved the game” and was very sad at having to relinquish his career as a professional, during which time he won on the European Challenge Tour and on the Alps Tour. After working in London in the betting industry, specifically on golf, he was delighted to accept an invitation from Paisley to work as his full-time caddy.
The pair have been together now for some time, with Paisley a regular in European Tour Order of Merit tournaments in many countries.
As a county amateur, Palmer’s many successes were not only within the county – his wins have included the Italian Amateur Championship, the Midland Open and the South of England Open Amateur title at Walton Heath.
As a professional, in addition to successes on the Alps Tour, he won the 2014 Foshan Open in China, with his 16-under-272 aggregate with four sub-70 cards.