Harrington still fighting neck injury

If Padraig Harrington thought that his preparations for the second round of Nissan Irish Open were perfect, he'd an unwelcome surprise in store yesterday.

Firstly, the Dubliner - with his wife, Caroline, and caddie, Ronan Flood - had undertaken the helicopter trip along the eastern seaboard from their home in Rathmichael in south Co Dublin to Baltray in Co Louth, a journey of a little over 15 minutes.

All of which got him to the practice ground, his favourite haunt, in plenty of time to prepare for the tournament's second day. Once there, he did his customary warm-up routine, hitting through the various irons and eventually working up to his driver.

Then, it happened. The first time he unleashed a drive, an unmerciful crack could be heard from the player's spine as his neck-cum-shoulder injury which has plagued him in recent months recurred.

In order for him to start his round, the world's number eight was forced to undergo 20 minutes of manipulation to the troublesome region of his upper back from his sports therapist Dale Richardson who, fortunately, was close-by when the incident occurred.

So, the wonder of it all was that Harrington - who has now decided to wait to see how the injury reacts over the weekend before committing to next week's Scandinavian Masters - managed to shoot a second successive 70 to lie on four-under-par 70 at the midway stage.

"I struggled on the longer clubs (because of the injury)," he said. "I just couldn't swing through. It inhibited me a little, but I got up and down, scored well, putted well and did a lot of things well . . . the problem is due to over-practice."

In that case, why do it?

"Because I'm obsessive, I have to work on my game. I keep pushing it to the limit, let's say."

Harrington, though, insists surgery isn't an option in his attempt to rid himself of the injury.

"This is totally within my own capabilities," he insisted, of an ailment that stems from his shoulder but really causes problems when it moves into the C5 area of his neck.

Two years ago in the US PGA at Hazeltine, Harrington was stricken so badly with the injury on the first tee that he was forced to tap his drive away so that he could receive treatment from Richardson. He eventually finished tied-17th, behind Rich Beem. Consequently, he undertook a fitness regime to build up the shoulder in an attempt to prevent further recurrences. Despite this, the injury has come back again in the past couple of months, but the player appears very philosophical about it all.

"I have worked tirelessly on it, and it is a continuation," he said. "I've to perfect a (gym) programme that covers all of it . . . I am happy with the way things are going."

As for the weekend? "I'm probably a bit too far out of it," he admitted, although his wish list for the final two rounds is to "swing the club well and score well. If I can put both together, that would be a nice change."