GOLF:A CHRONIC back injury threatens to derail Stuart Appleby's defence of his JBWere Australian Masters title at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne. The 40-year-old has given himself 24 hours to turn his fitness around and expects to be receiving treatment right up to his tee time tomorrow.

“The game’s not real good at the moment, but it wasn’t that good this time last year,” Appleby said. “I guess you can either worry about it or find a way around it – last year I did.

“This time last year I wasn’t in a lot of pain so it wasn’t too hard to actually still play and turn my body around, but this year it’s been a bit more touchy. Your swing becomes inconsistent and you become a passenger to whatever your body will let you do, that’s probably the most frustrating part because that’s been boiling all year.”

Appleby, whose 65 on Sunday at last year’s Masters earned him a one-shot win over Adam Bland, said rest and “a bit of poking and prodding” rather than practice will be his priority ahead of the opening round.

Coming off an indifferent season on the PGA Tour where he managed just one top-10 finish, Appleby said he doesn’t know the precise nature of his condition which has been with him for years, but surgery is apparently not an option.

While not wanting to disappoint the tournament’s sponsors, Appleby said there was a chance he might miss today’s pro-am to save himself for the tournament proper. “I want to play,” he said.