Lee faces a race against time to regain fitness for next week's Open at St Andrews after being diagnosed with a slight tear in his right calf muscle.

Lee hobbled through last week's French Open, but said at the end the problem had got progressively worse as the tournament went on and so withdrew from the JP McManus Pro-am in Ireland.

"He's been advised complete rest for the rest of the week, but is still very hopeful that everything will be fine," said management spokesman Martin Hardy. "He's been convinced that if everything pans out as expected he will be okay."

He went to hospital last Wednesday for a check-up after an initial scare that he might be suffering from a blood clot or deep vein thrombosis, but further tests put his mind at rest on that.

Lee had planned an early visit to St Andrews later this week, ahead of next Thursday's opening day, but that has now been cancelled. He confirmed that he is receiving daily treatment and hopes to hit a few balls at the weekend.

Update Sunday 11th July

"Lee is still having treatment and he is flying up to Scotland tomorrow (Mon)  He has only done a bit of chipping and putting, and hitting about 10 balls at a time... just taking it steady, Dr. Steve McGregor is going this morning to give him treatment.  He is still using the ice machine a few times a day".