Duo's battle of wounded knees is key

GOLF TOUR NEWS:A TALE of two knees, so to speak. Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, two players who were seemingly joined at the hip at one stage of their professional careers, face quite distinct challenges in the coming weeks.

For Harrington, who undergoes keyhole surgery at a Dublin clinic today, it is a case of recuperating in time for the US Open at Pebble Beach in three weeks time; for McGinley, it is facing up to the fact that his full recovery from an eighth knee operation will be a slow process.

The timing of Harrington’s operation, so close to a major, is on the recommendation of his consultant and the belief that it is necessary now rather than later.

Harrington, who conducted a corporate day in London yesterday following on from his tied-sixth finish in the BMW PGA at Wentworth, remarked: “My knee, at this moment, is superb in terms of what I can do with it. I can do a full squat, no problem. I could do a 100 metres sprint. I can jump, whatever. But there’s a floating cartilage in there and, if it is left there, seemingly it rubs off the bone and that’s what causes arthritis. It gets at a little spot on the bone and that just gets bigger and bigger (over time).

“My doctor wants to take that out . . . . with the keyhole surgery, they go in there, have a look around and take out the floating bits, so the quicker I get the bits that are moving out, the less chance I have of damaging it . . . . I have done more work, more prehab, on both my legs to get ready for this. We are as prepared as we can be.

“If I wait six months, then that bit of wear and tear on the bone could start and, once that starts, it is arthritis.”

Indeed, so confident is Harrington and his medical team of the success of the operation that the player plans on doing some light gym work as early as tomorrow, a day after the procedure, although it will be much longer before he is fully swinging a club.

He explained: “I won’t put any torsion pressure on it for 10 days, I won’t swing at anything. I should be able to hit some chips and putts by three or four days and anything I do in the gym will operate on one plane. I won’t be twisting or anything.”

Harrington’s timescale on things is a short one, with the aim to return to tournament play at the St Jude Classic, a week before the US Open.

In contrast, McGinley – who showed signs of returning to form at Wentworth – is convinced he must take it one gentle step at a time, which is one reason why he didn’t play in the 36-hole US Open qualifying at Walton Heath yesterday.

“I had to play 36-holes in a day at the wrong end of the draw in Korea (last month) and I paid for it for the week afterwards. My knee is not ready to do 36-holes in a day, particularly on the back of a big week like Wentworth where I played every day,” said McGinley.

McGinley viewed his decision not to attempt to qualify for Pebble Beach as “sensible” with the target of continuing to make improvements at the Madrid Masters this week and the Celtic Manor Wales Open next week, after which he hopes to be in a position to undertake 36-holes of qualifying for the British Open, which takes place at Sunningdale on the day after the Wales Open finishes.

“I’m on schedule (in terms of recovery). I am trying not to take the anti-inflammatories. They are very strong and kick in quickly but, then, with the drug policy on tour I have to be very careful what I am doing. But it is a drug that is on the right side of the law.”

Of the need to get competitive in tournaments, McGinley explained: “I am working hard to get back to being competitive again. My game is certainly still good enough and I still have the motivation, but it is a long road.

“ I’ve fallen a lot (down to 305th in the latest world rankings) and I can’t go at the game the way I could in the past with the way my knee is, so I am going to have to box a lot more clever.

“I need to build up my confidence again. I walked away with a bit of confidence (from Wentworth) but not a huge amount, but it’s another step in the right direction. It’s not a big step but it’s a strong step in the right direction.”

McGinley is joined in the Madrid Masters this week by Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell – who yesterday earned invites to both the US and British Opens after remaining in the world top-50 in the world, in 49th position – Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin and Gary Murphy.