AUSTRALIAN star Robert Allenby yesterday spoke of how lucky he felt to be alive after fracturing his sternum in a car crash in Spain.
Allenby, third on this year's European tour Order of Merit, may not play again this year. The smash happened on Saturday morning - ironically during a few days rest the 25 year old was taking after injuring his ankle at the end of the Loch Lomond World Cup Invitational last Sunday.
As well as the fractured sternum, he suffered superficial facial injuries and has been kept in hospital under observation. His manager Andrew Ramsey, the only passenger, suffered mild shock but no injuries.
Allenby's car left the road approaching a roundabout in Puerto Banus on the Costa del Sol and struck an obstacle on the roundabout.
"I am very lucky to be alive. Now my health must come before my golf, so my first priority is to recover and get fully fit again," he said yesterday.
"It is very disappointing because it does mean that my 1996 European Tour campaign is over. I was looking to finish the year strongly and I felt there was at least one if not two wins left in me.
"If I had not twisted my ankle last week I would have been playing in the Smurfit European Open in Ireland. Now I will go straight back to Australia to my family and friends as soon as I am released from hospital."
