Rough break: Luckless Harrington hit on elbow by amateur's practice swing
Padraig Harrington may be rueing his decision to provide coaching assistance to an amateur, after a bizarre incident resulted in the Irishman being forced to withdraw from the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Three-time major champion Harrington revealed on Tuesday that he had pulled out of this week's PGA Tour event in Memphis, with the reason for his absence an unusual one to say the least.
In a series of posts from his official Twitter account, Harrington wrote: "Just withdrawn from @PGATOUR @fesjcmemphis this week. I was hit on the elbow with a practice swing by an amateur I was coaching at an outing.
Just withdrawn from @PGATOUR @fesjcmemphis this week.I was hit on the elbow with a practice swing by an amateur I was coaching at an outing.
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) June 6, 2017
"Thankfully nothing was broken, just 6 stitches. I thought it was the end of me playing competitive golf.
"I'll only be out for 12 days or so to let stitches heal.
"There's no truth in the rumour that it was the amateur's best strike of the day."
ESPN's senior golf writer, Jason Sobel, was quick to provide a humorous, if somewhat unsympathetic, response. Sobel quote tweeted Harrington's initial message with the comment: "Think that guy might need another lesson."
Think that guy might need another lesson. https://t.co/gfELmrJSup
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) June 6, 2017