General / Editor / 30 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

Jose Maria Olazabal is facing a race against time to be fit for the upcoming Open Championship at Carnoustie, which gets underway on July 19.

The Spaniard is also a doubt for the preceding Scottish Open which takes at place at Loch Lomond, starting in two weeks time, as he is struggling with a knee injury.

The two-time Masters champion has been troubled by the problem for the last four weeks and it forced him to withdraw from this weekend's Open de France in Paris.

"I've not swung a club since the US Open and only started putting again the last two days," he said.

"I'm taking anti-inflammatories, but it's still swollen and I'll need to have the fluid drained before I start practising fully again."

Olazabal is currently available at 140 to end Europe's eight-year barren run in the Majors with victory at Carnoustie.

Although he is perhaps not the force of old, the Ryder Cup star showed he can still compete with the best when he tied for third at the US Masters last year, while he also tied for third at the Open in 2005 at St Andrews behind Tiger Woods and Colin Montgomerie.

The world number 35 is currently trading at 17 to finish in the top five this time around, while he can be supported at 5 to make the top ten.