Padraig Harrington will return to competition at the very familiar winning location of this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National and home of the famed ‘Bear Trap’ in Florida.
Harrington, and much like fellow Irishman Graeme McDowell, has been side-lined since injuring his wrist during the off-season.
The three-time Major winner initially thought he had sprained his wrist after an innocent fall while walking down stairs at his residence in December.
At the time Harrington announced: “A simple slip and sprained wrist mid-December has turned out to be a broken bone in my wrist. A few extra weeks off is now needed in a splint. If only practicing your putting all winter would make you a better putter.”
Padraig Harrington returns to competition this week and where he captured Honda Classic titles in 2005 and 2015
When the injury failed to heal, an x-ray revealed Harrington had indeed broken a bone in his wrist.
So much so that on 8th January when Harrington was proudly announced as the 2020 European Ryder Cup captain he had his wrist in a splint.
The injury meant Harrington missing out on contesting the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the recent AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Harrington captured a first PGA Tour victory in winning the 2005 Honda Classic and then 12 days short of a decade later and he won a second Honda Classic title.
In the process, it was Harrington’s first taste of success Stateside since winning the 2008 PGA Championship.
Joining Harrington in the $US 6.8m event will be McDowell who also had to delay his start to a 2019 season when he injured the lunate bone in his left wrist whilst practicing in the Bahamas during a New Year family holiday.
And returning after a week’s break from competition will be West Waterford’s Seamus Power.
