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Schwartzel not aiming too high on return from injury
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Schwartzel not aiming too high on return from injury

Four time champion Charl Schwartzel admits he will be satisfied if he is able to play and compete when he makes his long-awaited return from injury at this week's Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Charl Schwartzel

The home favourite has an outstanding record at Leopard Creek, having tasted victory there in 2004, 2012, 2013 and 2015 and finished second on four other occasions.

And Schwartzel has chosen the tournament as his comeback event following a wrist injury which has kept him out of action since April.

The 2011 Masters Champion, who admitted the injury almost prevented him from participating this week, is not aiming too high on his return.

He said: "I haven't played for eight months. If I was ever going to make a comeback, it was going to be the best place for me to start.

"I'm not 100 per cent, as I would want to be, but I had a few good weeks practising in America, so I thought I’d come down.

"For me, just to be able to play and walk the fairways and compete – that will be a win.

Charl Schwartzel 

"It (Schwartzel's hand) was extremely sore on Thursday and I didn’t think I'd tee it up this week, but then on Sunday when I was here, it was very manageable. 

"It fluctuates. It's a nerve, and once it gets entrapped too much, the probability of my stopping will be very high. But if I can keep it moving, I’ll hold on as long as I can."

The 35-year-old said he is hoping to tee it up in January's South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg before heading to the UAE.

He added: "After this, I want to play in the South African Open and then I want to play Abu Dhabi and Dubai and then maybe head over back to America ahead of the Masters."