CHORLEY’S Nick Dougherty admits pulling out of this week’s Dubai Desert Classic was a necessity to avoid further damage to his injured right hand.

The 28-year-old is out of action for a minimum of three weeks after confirming he fractured a bone in the back of his hand following a fall in the shower.

It represents a major blow for Dougherty, who was keen to use the Dubai tournament to correct recent driving problems, which has contributed to a poor run of form that includes missing the cut in each of his three tournament appearances in 2011.

The Shaw Hill professional is devastated to now miss next week’s Avantha Masters in Delhi, India, but admits resting his hand is essential to get him back on the golf course.

“The damage to my right hand when I slipped in the shower room at my Dubai hotel is worse than I first thought,” said Dougherty. “I have a fractured bone in the back of my right hand and will not be playing any more tournament golf for three weeks.

“That is the bad news. The good news is that by pulling out of the Dubai Desert Classic just an hour before my first round tee time I have avoided further, more serious, damage. “Had I tried to play a shot out of a thick lie in the rough the bone could easily have broken and that would have been me out of action for the whole season.

“That was the verdict of the doctor who treated me at Dubai’s Up and Running sports injury clinic after having x-rays and ultrasound tests on the injury. I am just thankful now that I took the decision to pull out when I might have tried to play with painkillers.

“And if there is some consolation the timing could have been a lot worse. Yes, I am going to miss not going to next week’s Avantha Masters in Delhi because I have never been to India before and was looking forward to visiting what I am led to believe is a fascinating country.

“But the fortnight after that sees two WGC events in America for which I was not qualified and was therefore heading for two weeks off anyway.”

Dougherty is likely to make his return to action in the Sicilian Open, which begins on March 17 at the Donnafugata Golf Resort & SPA.

Dougherty added: “Now I will spend the time working on my fitness in the gym, though not doing any excercises that involve using the hands and I will also work on the mind side of things. Mental rehearsal for golf is what Ian Poulters calls it and he finds it very useful.

“The disappointment at not playing in Dubai after missing three cuts was caused by not being able to gauge the improvement in my game after working so hard on it after Bahrain.

“However, although I am flying back home at the weekend with not a pound won from the month out here in the desert, I do know that I will be leaving Dubai with my swing in good shape again and with every reason to be optimistic when I return to action in Sicily next month.”