Lowry set for Sicily return after injury lay off

Shane Lowry has been given the thumbs up by doctors to return to action after what will end up being a 119-day absence from the tour.

The Offaly ace, 23, fractured the scaphoid bone in his right wrist when he slipped on ice as he got out of his car over the Christmas break.

A scaphoid fractureBut after a scan this week the 2009 Irish Open champion appears to be well on the road to recovery and he looks set to make his comeback at the Sicilian Open from March 17-20, nearly four months after his final appearance of the 2010 season in the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Lowry’s manager Conor Ridge said: “Shane was delighted with the results of the scan and he can start practising again soon. There was a good chance of returning for the Dubai Desert Classic in a couple of weeks but we felt it was possibly too risky and will wait until the tour gets back to Europe and the event in Sicily.”

The Clara man was bitterly disappointed that he failed to make the top-60 money winners who qualified for the Dubai World Championship finale last season, finishing 62nd in the final Race to Dubai standings with earnings of €501,728 from 31 starts.

His 2010 campaign started brightly when he finished fourth behind Martin Kaymer in Abu Dhabi. But he failed to build on that promising start and managed just one more top-10 when he earned a career-best cheque for €108,288 after finishing seventh in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

He complained towards the end of the season that he was running on empty. But he is now desperate to get back out and battle for his place in the top-60 in the money list and his first tournament win as a professional.