Niall Turner has opted to have a crucial hip operation.Photo Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie Asian Tour regular Niall Turner will miss four months of the season after undergoing hip surgery.

The 29-year old Muskerry professional, who failed to come through last year’s Asian Tour Q-School, had put off having surgery for nearly 18 months but finally decided to bite the bullet.

“I tore the labrum in my right hip socket back in October 2011 and have been putting off the surgery for a while,” Turner explained.

“I tore it again last November before the European Tour event in Hong Kong so it’s been a massive hindrance for a long time. I was just waiting for the best time to get the surgery.”

Turner made his Asian Tour debut in 2011 and claimed three top-20s in his first nine months, finishing 90th on the money list with $27,803 from his 15 starts.

He made a strong start to 2012 when he contended for the Handa Faldo Cambodian Classic before finishing third and went on to finish in the top-20 in three other events during the season.

Despite finishing 68th in the money list with $46,647 from 12 starts he headed back to the Q-School in an attempt to improve his status.

“I am missing four events as a result of the surgery so how many starts I get later this year it depends how many I play in the first few in September,” added Turner, who is hopeful of landing some sponsor’s invitations.

The Cork native played well in International Final Qualifying for The Open in Bangkok on March but finished three shots outside the top four who qualified automatically for Muirfield after rounds of 71 and 68.