No knee-jerk reaction from Pádraig
However the three-time Major winner insists it is nothing serious and plans to be back in the gym tomorrow.
Harrington said: “They go in there and have a little look around and take out the floating bits (of cartilage).
“At the moment, my right knee is superb in terms of what I can do. I can give you a full squat, no problem; I could do a 100-metre sprint for you, no problem. But the floating part is there and if it’s left there, it rubs off the bone and that leads to arthritis. It will make for a little spot on the bone that will get bigger and bigger. I have done a lot of work on both my legs to get ready for this so I’m as prehabbed as I can be. The doctor says, ‘why wait six months, the wear and tear on the bone can start in that time and once it starts, that’s arthritis’. So the quicker that I get the bits that are moving out, the less chance I have of damaging it.”
And as regards the timing? “I do not see an issue for tournament play. Thankfully, it’s my right knee – the left knee takes a lot of torsion in the swing, the right doesn’t take anything like as much.”
While in the clinic, Harrington will have 24 hours to contemplate his sixth place finish in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and wonder if he could have done any better or even captured his first title in 21 months.
While Harrington failed to step up to the plate, he certainly wasn’t the only one. In some ways, the eventual winner, Simon Khan, should be thanking his lucky stars because of the manner in which the many big names backed off when questions were asked.
Khan fully deserved victory given his highly impressive final round of 66. However, it was surprising that six under par should have wound up the winning total, given the beautiful weather conditions throughout the four days.
“Could I have done six under?” Harrington agonised. “I don’t know. I could have been five under for the last four but I didn’t play well at the start. I’m pleased for Simon and, yes, I suppose I’m surprised he won but that’s what you get sometimes on a tough golf course. Players who are a bit more relaxed can shoot scores coming home once they’re playing confidently.
“Chris Wood led going into the final round but the problem for him was that swirling wind. The last thing he needs is any doubt, he’s under enough stress as all of us would be. But a player coming from the back of the field doesn’t have that stress.”
Harrington regretted that an effort at eagle putt on the 18th missed on the high side and put him in a tie for sixth. Fifth on his own would have meant meaningful world rankings points – in fact, he has dropped back a place from 13th to 14th – but he remains as positive as ever.
“I have some good stuff that I want to get bedded into my game,” he declared.
“It’s a question of focusing. It’s a move from the technical to the mental side, which is a good sign for me.”
We all wish him well with the operation – and that he will have better luck with his putting when he returns to tournament action at Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial tournament in a couple of weeks. His method looks as sound as ever and it is pertinent to stress that he didn’t have a single three putt over the new Wentworth greens that are still short of where major championship surfaces need to be. It’s just that he missed a couple at the 16th and 17th on Saturday and the 15th and 17th on Sunday from around eight feet which, if converted, could have made a huge difference to his tournament.
“Putting is not a science,” he pointed out. “When it’s your day, they drop. I would have said coming into this week that I was as happy with my putting as I’ve ever been.
“I don’t think I missed from inside six feet or three putted. Those areas are crucial. And I holed one or two good putts. You have to get a run if you’re going to win.
“It wasn’t a winning week’s putting but it was a good week’s putting.”
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