There won't be any more adventure sports for India's Jyoti Randhawa for a while, at least not in between tournaments.
The former Asian Tour number one was forced to retire from the final round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters on Sunday morning after the pain from bruised ribs became unbearable.
Randhawa fell off a four-wheel bike during a desert safari in Doha on Monday but gritted his teeth for three rounds before deciding to pull out.
He started the final round on two-over-par 218 after shooting scores of 71, 72 and 75 at Doha Golf Club.
"It's disappointing. I was playing well after Abu Dhabi and with the pain I was one under after two rounds. But it became too unbearable," Randhawa said.
"I thought as the days go by and with treatment from the physiotherapist and medication, it would get better. It got worse this morning and I pulled out to try and get ready for next week (Dubai Desert Classic)," he said.
It was a disappointing end as Randhawa entered the USD 2 million event, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour, in good form after finishing tied sixth in the Abu Dhabi Championship last weekend.
Playing in his first full season on the European Tour, Randhawa heads to Dubai tonight and hopes to recover in time to face world number one Tiger Woods, who is headlining the event next week.
"I want to save myself for another week. There is no pain before I start my round, so I guess I need to give it a bit more rest and I hope to be ready for next week," Randhawa said.
Randhawa realised he must curtail his passion for adventure sports.
In 2002, he also fell off his motorbike on a highway and was ruled out for several months with a broken collarbone.
However, he produced a brave comeback to win the Order of Merit in the same season.
"I won't do anymore of these, not while at a tournament," said Randhawa.
"It's better done during my time off. I've learned my lesson. On Monday, I went on a desert safari and I got on a quad (four-wheel bike). I came down a dune and spun out and fell off on my ribs which got bruised."
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