Golf: Iles heading home after being cleared for travel

12.30pm

New Zealand's leading amateur golfer Bradley Iles should be home by the end of this week after being cleared for air travel in the United States.

Iles was released from a Savannah, Georgia, hospital last Saturday (NZ time) after being admitted on July 18 with a fractured skull, an injury sustained when he fell off the back of a golf cart.

It had been thought he would need further minor surgery today to clear blood in his ear canal.

However, hospital staff were able to drain the blood without resorting to surgery and they also cleared him to travel back to New Zealand.

"We're working on the travel arrangements now," his father Peter Iles told NZPA from a Savannah hotel today.

"We're thinking we will leave Savannah tomorrow, if not the next day, and should be home by the end of the week."

Iles, 20, who had been competing in the US as he built towards the world amateur teams championships in Puerto Rico in October, was further cheered by news that he should be able to play again in a fortnight.

"The surgeon told him that providing he felt OK there was no reason he couldn't play one month after surgery," Peter Iles said.

"So, in two weeks time, if he's feeling fit enough, he should be out on the golf course."

The accident had appeared to rule Iles out of the Eisenhower Trophy event starting in Puerto Rico on October 28, although as late as last week he expressed hope of making New Zealand's three-man team.

Originally considered a certainty for the side, Iles will need to prove his fitness and also convince the national selectors there are no continuing medical considerations to take into account.

Peter Iles said his son was fine, considering all that had happened.

"He's still tired and has minor headaches but in general he's pretty bright and there do not look to be any ongoing issues."

- NZPA