Padraig Harrington’s knee injury may cause him to pull out from the US Open
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is now surely be missing the second major of the season at the Congressional, giving into his knee injury. The 39-year-old Harrington has dropped out of the Top 50 in the world rankings for the first time since
1999 when he participated in his debut Ryder Cup at Brookline in Boston. He is still hanging on to the 50th position and will soon be dropping out as the rankings will be updated on this weekend.
Harrington is among few players in world rankings who have seen the worst times in a span of just two years. He was right behind Tiger Woods and next to Sergio Garcia in the world rankings after his knee injury caused him to slide down.
Garcia, who is currently ranked 74th in OWGR, and recently pulled out of the qualifier because of his deteriorating finger nail injury, will not be qualifying to play in the US Open scheduled from June 16-19. Unlike Garcia though, Harrington has
won three majors and holds life time membership to participate in the event, a qualification which would be of no use for the Irishman.
"I don't want to drop out of the top 50, but what can I do?" said the Dubliner. "It's not through lack of trying and I feel my game's in great shape. I think I'm in a position to go forward."
But of all the disappointment of not participating in main stream events, Harrington remains upbeat about his return to the course. For the moment, the veteran decides to stay put and weigh his options.
"I'm not panicking about dropping out of the top 50 and it's not in itself a big issue - there's a big summer ahead and I'm very happy with my game, what I'm doing and where I'm at. I'm doing the right things that will lead to results," he added.
Harrington wanted as much to be the part of the field at last week’s BMW PGA Championship but there was nothing he could have done to change the face of things. Instead of choosing to watch the event on TV, Harrington went ahead to watch the Monaco Grand
Prix at Monte Carlo.
The Dublin-born player turned professional in 1995 and went over to play on the European Tour. His maiden victory on the tour came later the next year when he won the 1996 Peugeot Spanish Open. He has played professional golf all across the world and three
out of his 26 professional wins came on the Asian Tour.
Harrington won the Open Championship twice in a row in 2007 and 2008. He won his third major PGA Championship also in 2008. Harrington is often regarded as the only promising European player who holds the possibility of winning all the four majors.
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