Padraig Harrington will continue to play through the pain barrier but also needing to make the halfway cut in this week’s starting Barclays Championship in New Jersey.
Harrington remained in the States this past week with his family and splitting his time between relaxing in Orlando and visiting New York.
He tee’s up in the first of four FedEx Cup Play Off Series events lying 87th among the top-125 on the money list and needing to be among the top-100 at the close of the event this week being staged on the Plainfield Country Club course in Edison.
And Harrington is no stranger to doing well on the old fashion like Donald Ross designed tree-lined course having finished 13th four years ago to Dustin Johnson.
“I’ve been told that if I make the cut this week that should guarantee me moving on to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship,” said Harrington.
“It’s also nice being back here to Plainfield as I competed in the 2011 Barclays when we were last here.”
However Harrington’s still troubled by his injured right knee, and the result of twisting the knee some six weeks ago while playing tennis with his children.
Side by side – the golf bags of Padraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth on the Plainfield Country Club practice putting green.
“My knee is still very much the same as it was at the PGA and I’m having much of the same stuff done to it like continual treatment and icing along with physio work,” he said.
“So it’s still causing me discomfort and actually with the rest last week it was good but now that I am back in tournament mode it’s a little more troublesome.
“I will just have to continue to deal with it as I did at the Bridgestone and PGA Championship.”
Harrington will be out in the very first group later today teeing up at 7.20am (12.20pm Irish)
And fellow PGA Champion Jason Day is fighting a battle to be fit for his first event since winning at Whistling Straits.
According to a statement released by his manager, Day tweaked something in his back while locating an item under the state-of-the-art motorhome he and his young family travel to each and every event.
However it would not have helped the Aussie’s back when he was observed late on Tuesday helping push a broken down six-seater motorised golf cart out of the main cart part route.
Earlier in the day, Day delighted a 7-year New Jersey youngster when he walked over to fans beside the practice range and handed one of his wedges to Andrew Smallwood.
“Would like to have this?” said Day.
“It’s one of the wedges I used to win at Whistling Straits.”
