THE CANADIAN PRESS

Mike Weir won't have the chance to try and salvage one of the worst seasons of his PGA Tour career.

The left-hander from Bright's Grove, Ont., has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow and likely won't hit another competitive golf shot until 2011.

Weir has been playing with pain for nearly two months, regularly icing his arm and seeking treatment from PGA Tour physiotherapists while struggling through the most important stretch of the season. The 40-year-old thought he was suffering from tendinitis, but decided to seek further medical attention at last week's Wyndham Championship after an eye-opening conversation with a fellow pro who recognized the symptoms.

"I talked to Scott McCarron last week and he really kind of convinced me to go get an MRI," Weir told The Canadian Press on Tuesday morning. "He told me he had done the same thing -- he played with (pain) while getting therapy on (his forearm) and he kept tearing (the ligament) worse and worse. By the time he went and got an MRI, it was completely torn off and he had to have surgery and take a year off."

Fortunately, Weir's prognosis is better than that. He plans to rest the elbow and seek alternative treatments, hoping the ligament will heal on its own so he can avoid surgery and a long layoff.

Even though the season is nearing its end, the news still hit hard. Weir failed qualify for the FedExCup playoffs, which begin this week, but had been hoping to enter some of the fall series events that follow in an effort to try and get his game back in shape.

"My mindset is always -- I'm trying to figure it out and I want to keep working hard," said Weir. "It's hard because I wanted to get out there and keep working and try to figure out what's going on and keep grinding away because that's my mentality."

Instead, he'll be consulting with doctors and spending lots of time at home in Utah.

Weir is still gathering information about the injury and hasn't committed to a specific treatment plan. He's spoken with some medical experts on the phone and visited a doctor on Tuesday.

"I'm going to try to rest and let it heal on its own," said Weir. "It's not a complete tear. It's a tear that hopefully with a couple months off can heal on its own. ... I'm definitely going to consult a few different people.

"There's a few different therapies that I've researched a little bit. I guess I just have to talk to them."

The 2010 season has been one of the toughest of Weir's career. After finishing sixth at the Bob Hope Classic in January, he failed to crack the top-10 in his remaining 18 tournaments.

He missed eight cuts along the way and only broke 70 in two rounds after May.

"It's been a tough year," said Weir. "It's been a struggle to find consistency in my game. It hasn't been a fun year, that's for sure. It's no fun to play poorly."

One of the first signs of injury trouble came last month when Weir showed up to the RBC Canadian Open at St. George's Golf and Country Club wearing a tensor band on his right arm and had to walk off the course during a pro-am round because of the pain. To his credit, he didn't use the injury as an excuse after missing the cut at his home event.

Weir had played the past three weeks -- finishing 55th at the Bridgestone Invitational before missing the cut at the PGA Championship and Wyndham Championship.

All along, he was looking for answers from his golf game. He didn't expect that they would come from a doctor.

"It's been a couple months of bugging me and it's really been inhibiting my game as well," said Weir. "At least I have some answers -- what's been going on and why it's been sore and why I haven't been able to be as aggressive at the ball as I could be and why I'm hesitant.

"Because it's been really bothering me."