Once upon a time, Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington formed a potent partnership in team golf, winning the World Cup and being partners-in-arms for Ryder Cup victories.
For the past few days, the pair have been labouring with injuries – one with back spasms, the other with a damaged shoulder – but both expect to be fit in time for rather important engagements this week.
For Harrington, the recovery process has been more immediate: he is in the field for the 36-hole US Open international qualifying event at Walton Heath on Monday. The three-time Major winner has been undergoing intensive physiotherapy along with acupuncture and laser light treatment in an attempt to repair the damaged infraspinatus muscle, one of four in a shoulder’s rotator cuff.
Harrington was forced to retire from the BMW PGA here at Wentworth after just two holes of his opening round, the first time in his career injury had forced him out of a tournament. He has recovered sufficiently and will be joined by Peter Lawrie and Gareth Maybin at Walton Heath, where there are nine places for next month's US Open at Chambers Bay up for grabs.
Irish Open
All three will then move on to Royal County Down for the Irish Open, which is on the point of being declared a sell-out. Only tickets for Thursday’s first round are available.
McGinley, for his part, was forced to withdraw prior to the start of the BMW PGA due to recurring back spasms which first surfaced last Saturday week and which necessitated daily physiotherapy. He failed to be fit in time for Wentworth, where he carried out limited television commentary commitments, but will be fit to play at Royal County Down, "which is the main thing", he said.
There are no such injury concerns for Lawrie. His problem has been finding tournaments to play in in his bid to regain his full tour card. As such, the Dubliner will join Harrington in the US Open qualifying event.
“It’s a chance to get into another big tournament, isn’t it?” he said. He will then move on to Royal County Down as the beneficiary of a sponsor’s invite.
Lawrie finished with a 74 for 290, which left him in tied-59th place. “I see it as a missed opportunity in a big money event . . . It is difficult to know when you are playing, when you’re given limited opportunities in big events you have to grab them by the horns,” he said. “I played super all week, just didn’t even get a quarter share of my putts. I have played nice so I can take those positives away with me.”
The Dubliner heads to Royal County Down as one of the few players in the field who has tasted success on the famed links: he won the Irish Close there in 1996, prior to turning professional.
It offers him another good opportunity in his bid to regain his tour card.
