MARCUS ARMITAGE vowed not to repeat the madness that wrecked his last shot at The Open by avoiding indoor skydiving!
Armitage dislocated a shoulder just ten days before his Major debut at Carnoustie in 2018.
The Manchester golfer nicknamed The Bullet defied medical advice to play and after opening with an agonising 80, he somehow shot a 69 to narrowly miss the cut.
Now he has earned another tilt at the Claret Jug by finishing third behind Branden Grace at the South African Open on Sunday.
And it also got him into this weeks big-money Abu Dhabi Championship and a possible face-to-face with Brooks Koepka.
Armitage poked fun at the world No1 by copying his famous naked photoshoot for Sports Illustrated!
But the high jinks will stop ahead of The Open at Royal St Georges in July, as he vowed to turn up in one piece.
Armitage, 32, said: I was injured when I played at Carnoustie because I went indoor skydiving ten days before.
I wont be doing that again this year. Ill be preparing for Royal St Georges and looking to win it.
What I did last time was quite pointless really, because Ive already done a tandem skydive from 12,000 feet. So I dont know why I went in a wind tunnel.
I ripped my shoulder clean out of the socket and it was out for two hours.
I went to see a physio and he said, Youre not playing in The Open next week. I responded, Yes I am, you watch me. Ill go with half a swing.
And thats exactly what I did. I played The Open with half a swing and missed the cut.
I shot 69 on the second day with half a swing. I was gutted because I thought it had taken me so long to qualify for such a great event and Ive done this.
I was thinking, Its your one Open, this is it for the rest of your life what you have done is absolute madness.
Its the best championship on the planet for me. People say, Youre on the European Tour, youre living the dream. No, the dream is when Ive got the Claret Jug in my pocket and Im off to find the other three Majors!
Armitage is one of golfs most colourful characters and even his alter-ego, The Bullet, came about in bizarre fashion.
When he qualified for his first stint on the European Tour two years ago, fellow pro Matt Dixon told him he needed a nickname.
Armitage chose The Bulldog and sent some clothing off to a company in the USA to get it embroidered. But it came back with The Bullet stitched into it and the tag stuck.
His 70,000 payday in South Africa will help pay off the credit-card debts he ran up last year as he earned just 12,500 playing on the second-tier Challenge Tour.
And a decent showing in the Middle East this week will keep the money flowing in.
Meanwhile, Cameron Smith won a play-off at the PGA Tours Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday night a result which saw 9,600 donated to the Australian bushfires relief effort.
Aussie Smith, whose uncles farm burned down, donated $500 (385) for each birdie he made and $1,000 (770) for an eagle.
