THREE MAJOR SURGERIES IN PAST TWO YEARS

HAL SUTTON MAKES COMEBACK WITH 

TWO ARTIFICIAL HIPS - AND NO PAIN

HAL SUTTON .... quit golf for five years after criticism of his US Ryder Cup team captaincy. 

Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)

By Vartan Kupelian
PGATOUR.COM

Hal Sutton returns to the Champions' Tour next week at the age of 56 with two artificial hips and, finally, a golf swing no longer burdened by constant pain. 
The Allianz Championship at The Old Course at Broken Sound will be Sutton’s first start since the Boeing Classic in August. Two months later, he underwent a second hip replacement procedure and his third major surgery in two years.

“It’ll be exciting for me to be there,” Sutton said. “I’ll be optimistic because I’m pain free. Not 100 percent sure of the outcome. My swing adjusted a lot with all that pain, having to work out bad habits. When put to the test in competition that’s when we’ll really know how much progress there has been and what to work on.
“The good news is I can work on it.”
With the pain gone, Sutton will to revive his once formidable golf game.
In both the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Sutton was limited to 14 starts. In 2012, his last event was the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in August. Sutton underwent surgery to replace his left hip in October. The sequence was eerily similar last year. He played in 14 events, none after August, before surgery to replace his right hip.
For Sutton, the 2011 season also ended with major reconstructive hip surgery that didn’t achieve desired results and led to hip replacement. During those three seasons, there were glimpses of good play from Sutton.
“I had several good opening rounds,” he said. “The farther I walked, the more I played, the more I hurt. It hurt just to walk.” 
After the left hip was replaced, Sutton was told that the right hip was equally as bad and would also need to be surgically repaired.
“The more you play, the more your right hip is going to hurt, too,” said Sutton, quoting his doctor.“That’s exactly what happened. I couldn’t take it anymore. That’s three major surgeries in the last two years. I’m kind of glad to be past all of that.”
Sutton’s US PGA Tour career came to a halt after his stint as captain of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team. Stung by criticism after the Americans were defeated, Sutton stepped away from the game for almost five years until becoming eligible for the Champions Tour in 2008.
“When I quit the regular tour, I quit golf entirely,” Sutton said. “When I started playing again, it was the first time I ever felt my hips hurt. I guess arthritis had set in. I wasn’t mobile with my hips. If you can’t move, you can’t play golf.
“You can’t hit against either side. That causes you to be arms-and-handsy. Now I can turn into my right side and turn into my left side, which creates a lot more speed.”
Sutton, 56, expects to play a “pretty full schedule” upon his return. He’s delighted with the calibre of his ball-striking during his preparations. But there are no long-range goals.
“A day at a time,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect. This is uncharted waters for me.
“My real goal is I don’t want to go out of the game the way I’ve been playing. From that point, I would like to right the ship. It’s tough to play with pain. You flinch with pain. There is no time to flinch in a golf swing. It’s a fluid motion. If it’s not a fluid motion, it’s violent.”
Always known as a wonderful ball-striker, among Sutton’s strengths was iron play.
“I always trapped the ball my whole life, it’s why I was a pretty good iron player,” he said. “I’ve been picking the ball because I couldn’t hit against the left side. If you can’t hit against the left side, you can’t hit down into the ball. Irons are how you score. The closer you hit it, the more putts you make.”
Sutton made his Champions Tour debut in late 2008 before playing a full season in 2009 when he finished top 10 three times in 19 starts – his busiest campaign since the 2003 US PGA Tour (24 starts). Sutton’s T3 finish at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in 2009 is his best on the Champions Tour for the man who won 14 times on the US PGA Tour between 1982 and 2001. 
Sutton won the 1982 US PGA Championship and two Players' Championships, the second coming in 2000 in a memorable stretch dual against Tiger Woods.
In 2010, Sutton enjoyed his best earnings year ($496,391) since that 2003 season ($939,000).
The goal beginning at the Allianz Championship will be to light the flame again.