Pádraig Harrington locked in major battle against the clock

Pádraig Harrington returns to the majors this week at Whistling Straits for the first time since last month’s Open near miss, fighting both the pain of a knee injury and the sense the clock is ticking on his ability to add to his title haul.

The 2008 PGA Championship win at Oakland Hills near Detroit was Harrington’s third and most recent major victory but a win on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in March as well contending at St Andrews in The Open in July, when he led the tournament he won in ‘07 and ‘08 during the final round, have confirmed to a wider audience the golfer’s self-belief he has another big success story to realise.

The Irishman is 44 on August 31 and by his own definition having turned pro in 1995, at the upper limit of the 20 years on tour he believes is the end point of many elite playing careers.