Form aspirations laid low by Colombia illness

By Richie Ramsay

Published:

IAM not sure about men and mice, but the best laid plans of golfers can certainly go awry.

My plan for last month was to get three tournaments under my belt in South America and come back to Europe hitting some form.

Unfortunately, what actually happened was I ended up in a mobile medical unit in Colombia on an intravenous drip.

It was during the third day at the Colombian Masters in Bogota I started feeling unwell and by the evening I was worse. Without getting into too much detail, I was pretty sick, having all the symptoms of food poisoning.

I was still desperate to play the final round but when the morning came I was not fit to walk let alone play golf.

It was a pretty scary situation because I did not know what was wrong with me and I was thousands of miles from home.

It might not have been so bad but when you are completely out of your comfort zone it can be a bit of a worry. The medical attention I received was superb.

I had not been able to eat or drink for days, so they put me on a drip and really looked after me.

Thankfully, I managed to get from Colombia to Miami and then on to London and Aberdeen.

It was a long journey home, especially the way I was feeling, but it was a relief to get back to my own bed.

My health was much improved by the time I got to France for the Open Cotes d’Armor Bretagne, although I would have felt even better if not for a few bad holes.

Consistency is the key and I played pretty well for about 16 holes on each day but a couple of lapses in concentration cost me.

I got to two under and three under on two of the rounds, within a couple of shots of the lead, but then misjudged the wind or made a mistake with a short iron.

I still finished 12th, which I was fairly happy with, but I could have been a lot higher.

Frustrating, but I feel as though I am gradually getting there.

I still managed to see some of the Masters from my sick bed and I was pleased to see Trevor Immelman win the famous Green Jacket.

We met through his coach, Sean Hogan at the Leadbetter Academy in Orlando and he is a really nice guy and a terrific player.

On the eve of the Masters in 2007, Trevor picked up a nasty stomach bug and he ended up in a local emergency room receiving intravenous fluids.

Sound familiar?

Twelve months later and he was back at Augusta, playing superb golf to become champion when everyone was tipping Tiger to make his first step on the way to a Grand Slam.

So, you see, in golf, everything does not always go to plan. Not even for Tiger.