DANIEL Brooks is hoping a long-term wrist injury will not cause havoc as the Portugal Masters gets underway today.

Brooks suffered a freak injury at Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park in February, which saw him catch his fingers on some netting while coming down a slide on a day out with his daughter.

And while Brooks feels his form has improved in recent weeks, he admits he is still feeling pain months on from the accident.

The Basildon-born professional golfer said: “I have still got some problems with my wrist.

“It has been getting worse but I haven’t been able to see anyone about it because I haven’t had enough time.

“Because of my wrist, it’s luck of the draw how I will play in each tournament.

“I have to strap it up and take lots of painkillers, which is not ideal at all.”

The injury forced Brooks to pull out of the PGA European Tour’s KLM Open during the second round last week.

Brooks completed the 18 holes for the first time in 71 shots but was in too much pain to get to the halfway stage of the event in the Netherlands.

The 31-year-old went into the KLM Open off the back of bagging a top five finish in the European Masters.

Rounds of 69 bookended efforts of 67 and 64 in Switzerland.

As a result, Brooks finished 11 under par and was able to walk away with close to £100,000 in prize money.

Although Brooks was pleased to impress, he confirmed the extended spell on the course did not help his ongoing wrist problem.

Brooks added: “I did well at the European Masters and that was a nice feeling because I had not completed all four rounds of a course for quite a while.

“But that meant I had no time off for two weeks because I was competing each day from Thursday through to Sunday and then I was on the course at the KLM Open.

“I will have to have an injection to help with the pain.”

The Portugal Masters, the latest European Tour contest, will commence at the Vilamoura-based Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course today.

And Brooks, who is set to tee off at 8.10am, has noticed some changes to the course.

Brooks confirmed: “I have played here for each of the last four or five years and it’s a lot tougher than in previous years.

“It’s a bit more unpredictable and there’s more grass, so it’s important to stay on the fairways.

“Hopefully I perform how I did in Switzerland.”