Hand injury likely career-ending for Oberholser

 
Arron Oberholser
Having battled a series of hand injuries in recent years, former PGA Tour winner Arron Oberholser is reportedly faced with the prospect of early retirement after his latest on-course setback.

"I'm almost positive my golf career is over," the 38-year-old told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The writing is kind of appearing on the wall, in neon."

Winner of the 2006 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Oberholser went on to tie for fourth at the 2007 PGA Championship, cracking the top 30 in the world ranking in the process. Since then, though, he's been derailed by a series of injury issues, making only four PGA Tour starts since 2009 while reportedly undergoing four different surgeries to treat his oft-injured left hand.

Oberholser had hoped to regain his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals this year, and played his way into position through three rounds of the series' first event, shooting 66-68-68 to begin the Hotel Fitness Championship last month. His final-round 73 dropped him back to a tie for 18th, however, and Oberholser also reportedly re-aggravated the injury to his hand.

"It's not a good situation," explained Oberholser, who withdrew from the next two Finals events. "It bothers me even on day-to-day stuff, and it's never done that before. It's never hurt this many days in a row without playing."

Oberholser made two starts on the PGA Tour this season, missing the cut at both the Northern Trust Open and the Shell Houston Open, and served as a part-time analyst for Golf Channel before attempting his latest comeback. He added that long-term "quality of life" concerns played a role in his decision to essentially walk away from the game.

"I still want to be able to play with my boys as they grow older," he said. "That's one thing I'm worried about – not being able to even play casual rounds of golf without pain."