Injury scare for Harrington

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Ireland's Padraig Harrington has suffered an injury scare on the eve of his defence of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Harrington injured his wrist on Saturday and has not hit a shot since, and admits he is worried about the problem flaring up when playing out of the rough.

"I've been having treatment and I'm strongly hopeful I will be able to play," said the Dubliner, who struggled with a neck injury at the European Open a fortnight ago.

"The only issue would be if I re-injured it in the rough and that's what is a little bit scary. I'm going for physio now and then out to see if I can hit shots.

"If it stays stable I will play a practice round but pick the ball up in the rough. If it's not stable I will have another day off."

Asked if he would definitely tee it up in the first round of Thursday, Harrington told RTE radio: "I'm just not sure. I don't know.

"It has improved over the last two days but I just can't be sure until I hit start hitting shots. I could not support the weight of the club with my wrist on Saturday and Sunday. I can do that now but I don't know about hitting into the turf or the rough and that's something I can't really test."

Harrington is trying to think positively about the problem, recalling that he also did not play a practice round on the Monday last year before his victory at Carnoustie.

"It's not the end of the world," added the 36-year-old. "It's a good straightforward course. It would not be the worst course in the world to just have one practice round.

"Mentally I'm quite positive, just a bit worried about it being weak and flaring up where I can't continue to play. I think I will be teeing it up with strapping (on it), but who knows."