Padraig Harrington’s struggle to be fit for his defence of The Open Championship intensified on Wednesday when he was forced to curtail two practice rounds at Royal Birkdale.
The Irishman, who on Tuesday vowed to fight through the pain of an injury to his right wrist, initially teed off from the tenth and hit a two iron and then a seven iron before aborting his practice round.
He returned indoors for treatment but, having later returned to the course, Harrington limited himself to some chipping and putting around the greens.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his injury, Harrington, who has a 7.58am tee-off time in the first round, has been told by his Australian sports chiropractor Dale Richardson that he is unlikely to cause any further damage.
With that in mind, Harrington remains determined to play the event. He said: "The decision will be mine. I cannot say anything at the moment other than I will be making a strenuous effort.
"I will be apprehensive about hitting any shot. I'll certainly be apprehensive about hitting out of the rough."
He has yet to do that all week. In the nine holes he managed on Tuesday he obeyed Richardson's instructions to hit only from the fairway. That passed without pain, as did his warm-up on the driving range on Wednesday morning.
"It felt stronger and I was fine warming-up. I didn't feel any shots - I hit drivers and I had no problem taking divots,” he said.
"But on the course the first six-iron hurt. I was surprised."
He immediately stopped, returned to the physio unit and then went back out with an ice pack to try again.
"No shot hurt at any stage yesterday, but this time the tee shot hurt, so I stopped again,” he revealed.
"I have to hope it won't be like that tomorrow and it's an injury that as every day goes by we expect to get better."
Asked how he felt as he continued round the back nine just chipping and putting, Harrington replied: "I don't know actually. I don't want to push it to the edge. I just want to rest it.
"I've had no injection, but I've taken anti-inflammatories, had some laser-like treatment and I've iced it. I think that about covers it.
"It might be a situation of managing the pain. If the stability is staying strong the pain is not a problem, but it's the anticipation or the flinching with the pain that could be the problem.
"If I can mask that I will be fine. There is no worry about doing damage - Dale has been very positive on that."
American Heath Slocum is the first reserve if Harrington withdraws.
