Jose-Maria Olazabal looks set to recover from his broken hand in time for the Open championship starting at Carnoustie in 16 days' time.

Olazabal, who suffered the injury banging his fist against a hotel bedroom wall after a first-round 75 at the US Open two weeks ago, has been told he can start practising again this weekend.

The Masters champion broke the fifth metarcarpal of his right hand and was told it could take anything from three to five weeks to heal fully. At the time the Open was four weeks away.

Now the plaster has been removed, and Olazabal has started exercising the hand in between wearing a protective guard just to avoid knocking it.

"He needs a boxing lesson," said manager Sergio Gomez yesterday.

"But everything is progressing well, and we plan to be at Carnoustie on the Sunday before the championship."

Meanwhile, Mark James has set himself a one-month deadline before making the most important decision of his playing career.

The 45-year-old was named captain of the European Ryder Cup team 10 months ago, but his form this year has propelled him into seventh place in the European rankings.

Now James must decide whether to except a dual role of player and captain or forego one of his posts ahead of the tournament at the Brookline course in Boston in September.

"I said you can't play and captain. I have said that right from the start and everybody seems to be repeating that," James said.

"It's impossible. But it's too early to speculate on my position on the list. I'm going to wait for another month or so and then it will become fairly obvious if I'm going to become a contender."