Christy O'Connor Jnr has his heart set on being fit in time for the British Open at Royal Lytham in July. But he realises it may be a further month before he has recovered fully from a broken left leg sustained on March 29th.

O'Connor, who has 13 pins and two bolts in the limb which sustained a double-fracture above the ankle, is currently in Lahinch for a short holiday with his wife, Ann, and son Nigel. He was released last Saturday after an eight-day stay in hospital in Galway.

"I desperately want to play at Lytham, if only for the fact that it could be my last exemption into the British Open," he said. "And of course there is the defence of my Senior British Open title at Royal Co Down later in July.

"To be honest, my specialist has told me I have no chance. But I still plan to be back pitching and putting by the end of next month. Then, realistically, I can look to returning to the US Senior tour in August. They are obviously aware of my situation and have indicated they will treat me favourably."

By this, O'Connor is expecting to be granted the same exempt status for 2002 as he had for this year. In other words, to be given exemptions accorded the top-50 in the final money list at the end of the season.

"My original intention was to quit the tour at the end of this year, but in view of what's happened, I now plan to play a few selected events next season," he added. "This has been my first time in hospital and it's killing me to be out of the game."