• PGA Tour

Parnevik needs 'miracle' to avoid retirement

ESPN staff
February 10, 2010
Jesper Parnevik is a four-time European Tour winner © Getty Images
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Jesper Parnevik has said he needs a "miracle" to save his golf career after doctors told him he requires an operation that would mean an end to his playing days.

The Swede had emergency back surgery on Monday, after which he conceded to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that a further operation "seems inevitable".

"I'll have to hope for a miracle if there's going to be any more competitive golf," Parnevik said. He will visit a physiotherapist in Detroit next week in a last-ditch attempt to extend his career.

Parnevik underwent hip surgery last year, meaning he did not compete in a tournament until Q-School in December. He withdrew from that competition due to injury and has failed to make the cut in each of the four events he has played this year.

A four-time European Tour winner, he attracted headlines in 2009 for his views on Tiger Woods' philandering. The 44-year-old once employed Woods' wife, fellow Swede Elin Nordegren, as a nanny and was responsible for introducing the two - a gesture he now regrets.

"I would be especially sad about it - I really feel sorry for Elin - since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him," Parnevik said in December. "We probably thought Tiger was a better guy than he is. I probably would have to apologise to her and hope she uses a driver next time rather than a three-iron, I would say.

"It's a private thing of course but when you are the guy he is, the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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