Injured Harrington starts his defence
- 17 Jul 08, 09:18 AM
The last 18 hours or so can't have been a comfortable experience for defending Open champion Padraig Harrington.
On Wednesday, the 36-year-old Dubliner had to pull out of his practice round at Royal Birkdale with the wrist injury he picked up in the gym after winning the Irish PGA Championship last weekend.
With Harrington saying he was "75% hopeful" of making it to the first tee on Thursday, there were major concerns that he would not be fit enough to defend the crown he won at Carnoustie last year.
And as we waited in the pouring rain for Harrington to begin his campaign, there was just a slight sense of worry as playing partners Retief Goosen (who was incredibly wearing a short sleeve top, is he mad?) and Justin Leonard appeared on the tee box around a minute before the champion.
But appear he did and as he strolled to the tee, the brave souls gathered in the wet, wind and the gloom around the 1st roused themselves to give the world number 14 a large cheer.
He looked relaxed enough, and after sharing a joke with his playing partners and rigging up a towel in the arms underneath his umbrella (handy tip that), he spanked his iron right and into the rough.
From that brief viewing there were no obvious signs that he was struggling with the injury but this a gruelling week and we will soon find out how long that wrist can last.
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