Harrington shoulders the burden

With less than a week to go to the Ryder Cup, it emerged today that Padraig Harrington has suffered yet another shoulder strain.

But before any alarm bells start ringing in the European camp, it should be noted that this particular strain did not prevent the Dubliner shooting a best-of-the-day 64 in the third round of the Linde German Masters in Cologne.

And that round lifted him from joint 11th into second place with 18 holes to play, three strokes behind Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

Harrington led after his opening 66 on Thursday, but following a second round of 75 he spent four hours practising.

“I pushed it too far – for the last 45 minutes I could feel it and I had treatment this morning,” he said of his strain.

“It’s such a temptation to go on when you are working away on things and hitting it well. I know I should have left it, but I didn’t. I never do.

“It’s tight (the strain) now, but I’m happy enough that with more treatment it should recover. I’ve just got to watch hitting balls in cold weather.”

The world number eight had problems during the summer with his shoulder and neck, but the fact that it has not spread from the shoulder area this time – so far at least – eased his concern.

Harrington produced a sizzling start.

Eight adrift overnight, he went to the turn in 30, making four birdies and then pitching into the hole from 122 yards for an eagle three at the long seventh.

It could have been even better – he missed a four-foot chance on the difficult 469-yard ninth, the hole Ian Woosnam failed to finish on Thursday after two balls went in the lake.

Two more birdies followed over the closing four holes and when McDowell played the same stretch in two-over for a 69, Harrington’s hopes of a first victory this year – and avoiding the 25th runners-up finish of his career – were boosted.

McDowell, who just missed out on a Ryder Cup debut, stands on the 14-under-par total of 202.

And, having reached halfway three clear, he said: “If somebody had offered me the same lead with a round to go I would probably have broken their arm off.

“To throw in two late bogeys was disappointing, though.”

He missed the green at the short 16th and then went into water on the next.

A team-mate of Luke Donald in the 2001 Walker Cup victory in America, McDowell is seeking his third European Tour title and added: “If I can keep playing as I am, he (Harrington) is going to have to go low to catch me.

“This is one of our better events and I want to win it pretty badly. Nothing less will do right now.

“It always has a great field and there’s a buzz around this week with the Ryder Cup coming up.”

Paul Casey, another of the Detroit-bound players, would have been joint second with Harrington but for a closing double-bogey six.

Missing the fairway and then pitching into the lake meant a 67 after he had begun the back nine in sensational style with three birdies, then an eagle at the 509-yard 13th, then two more birdies. That meant he was seven-under for six holes.

The last-hole slip-up, however, sent him down to fourth spot on nine-under, one behind France’s Raphael Jacquelin and five adrift of McDowell.