Its a professional sports persons dream to reach the highest echelons of their profession and golf is no different. That dream came true in November 2014 for European Tour rookie Jason Palmer at the end of a thrilling couple of years which saw him win three titles on the Alps Tour and lead the Order of Merit, have a successful follow up year on the Challenge Tour winning his first title and earning his spot on the main tour alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
This was the first time Jason had competed at this level but with the support of sponsors MerTrux and Crouch Logistics as well as PING, Titleist, Footjoy and Crestlink, Jason began the season well making the cut in his first event and then following it up with two more made cuts in three of the 'Desert Swing' events. Jason's best finish of the season came at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open with a top 40 placing which he followed up two weeks later at the tours flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth with his biggest prize cheque of the season.
More success was to follow though as on the Monday following Wentworth Jason competed in the US Open qualifying event at Walton Heath and after some fine play earned his place at the US Open to be held in Chambers Bay, his first major appearance, he was understandably thrilled.
However in early June the delight and joy turned quickly into pain. Playing at the Lyoness Open Jason was forced to retire with excruciating pain in his left hand. After seeking medical advice and with his first major around the corner, Jason headed to America apprehensive but keen to play. Jason narrowly missed the cut despite some good play but the pain was by this point making golf almost impossible which lead to Jason then withdrawing from the BMW International Open the following week, the last appearance he has made on tour in 2015.
Despite Jason and all his teams best efforts to play again in 2015, the pain he is suffering is just too intense and has caused Jason to make the very difficult decision to pull out from the rest of the European Tour season missing events like the Scottish Open, French Open, Czech Masters and Portugal Masters, obviously a major blow having achieved his dream.
Jason has set his sights on the European Tour Qualifying School in November 2015 in order to gain his card back but will be working hard on the injury and his practice with his coaches and medical staff in preparation for the event.
We all wish Jason very well in his recovery and hope he will gain a medical extension for 2016 so we can all see him back competing on the European Tour injury free.