Golf: Nobilo's career at the crossroads

By MARTIN DAVIDSON

Frank Nobilo cut a dashing figure when he first shipped his game from New Zealand, via Europe, to the United States in 1997.

He was at the peak of his powers and - after more than a decade earning a lucrative living in Europe - his game compared more than favourably with those of his contemporaries Stateside.

He proved it, too, by winning the 1997 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic, the 14th victory of his professional career.

And the American golf community took an instant liking to the dapper Nobilo, no doubt impressed by his colourful ancestry, which can be traced back to 18th-century pirates.

Now, all he wants to do is recapture some of the buccaneering spirit of his Italian forebears to cope with the dual foes of an ailing body and increasing competition on the high seas of international golf.

Nobilo's first priority is to get his body into shape after he ended last year at a career crossroads when a debilitating lower-back injury forced him to stash his clubs away two months early in October.

Initial reports that he might quit the game were not exaggerated, with Nobilo, 42, admitting his future was in the balance.

"That is still a possibility [of retiring].

I really don't know what is going to happen."

Nobilo said he would not know about his playing future with any certainty until March, when he ends close to six months of intense treatment to ease pain caused by a degenerative disc in his lower spine.

The injury had troubled him periodically for a couple of years, but worsened last year to the stage that he could spend only nine holes in training as he saved himself for US PGA Tour events.

The problem is aggravated - and muscle spasms cause a shooting pain to spread to his legs - when he rotates his trunk to swing the club.

Before returning to Auckland to spend Christmas with his parents, Nobilo's specialist warned him against expecting an easy cure for his ailment.

"The joint can be repaired, but if the back spasms continue I can't do much about it.

"The only way out of it then is to have surgery and have the joint fused. If that's the process I have to go through after six months then obviously there's not much I can do in terms of playing golf."

He is sure he will get through the New Zealand Open starting at Middlemore on Thursday, his first appearance on home soil in six years.

"I'll be fine for the tournament, but the crux is whether I can get back to 100 per cent to try to play for a full season.

"It's a bit like playing one-day cricket as distinct to test cricket. There are certain things you can do for a day which you may struggle to do for five.

"After the Open I probably won't play again until March. My back specialist told me it would probably take six months. He said it wouldn't hurt to play for a week - and in some ways it was good to do so."

The back complaint is the latest in a series of setbacks for Nobilo, who was on the brink of dining at golf's exclusive table in 1996 when his world ranking peaked at 21.

The following year was progressing nicely, too, before he was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis in his wrist and shoulder.

The impact on his game was severe, not helped by the time medical specialists took to prescribe the correct treatment.

He spent most of 1998 battling the debilitating side-effects of the treatment while he searched vainly for his own authentic swing to return.

Since then he has made so many compensations for an ailing body that the swing has emerged only fleetingly, not for long enough to enable him to challenge like he once did on the closing nine holes in the fourth round of tournaments.

He tried to rush his rehabilitation then, a mistake he will not repeat.

"I've been guilty of being a little bit too belligerent and playing when I thought I could. I have to be more careful this time.

"I just have to nurse it along and take it slowly.

"One of the reasons I got into this mess is because I kept trying to play through injuries.

At this stage his schedule this year is empty.

"If come March and I feel pretty good I might play as many as 20 events in the US or there's the possibility of perhaps playing some in Europe.

"I don't want to play like I have for the past couple of years where I've tried to play through it [the pain].

"In the end I have become very dissatisfied with the standard of golf I've played anyway.

"I probably should have stopped a year ago and fixed the problem.

"When I was 100 per cent fit there were times when I played crap and times, obviously, when I played very well.

"There have also been times over the years when I've been injured and played well. But to have the best opportunity to play well you need one less variable - your health."

Through all his trials Nobilo has fought to keep his plight in perspective.

He has a wife and daughter, is wealthy and has a beautiful home in Florida.

"Other people have had it worse. I remember going to Payne Stewart's funeral a couple of years ago. I've been very lucky. What I've gone through pales into insignificance.

"I can pretty much do anything but play golf 12 months a year. Hopefully, in another three months, I will have that back, so it's not that bad."

- NZPA

JUST THE FACTS

Name: Frank Nobilo.

Born: May 14, 1960, Auckland.

Height: 1.82m.

Turned professional: 1979.

Professional career titles: 14.

Career highlights:

1985: Won NZPGA title.

1987: Won NZPGA title.

1991: Won Lancome Trophy (European Tour).

1993: Won Mediterranean Open (European Tour).

1995: Won BMW International Open (European Tour), Sarazen World Open.

1996: Won Deutsche Bank Open (European Tour), Sarazen World Open.

1997: Won Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic (USPGA Tour).