Pádraig insists PGA Tour must play by the rules

Pádraig Harrington last night refused to pour more fuel on the fire of controversy surrounding Rory McIlroy’s Honda Classic walk-out.

But he did call for the PGA Tour to drop its opposition to the anchoring ban or risk making golf’s governing bodies irrelevant and potentially scupper plans to roll back the ball and the driver.

The Dubliner has never failed to complete a round in 18 years on Tour, even when suffering from agonising neck injuries. But when asked his view on the world No 1’s shock withdrawal last week, he said: “I’ve no comment to make on that.