“Ever since I got on the Champions Tour, I’ve never played one tournament healthy… I’ve had so many surgeries on knees, feet, shoulder, elbows, hands, you name it.” John Daly had stated previously. Daly‘s physical limitations have become an obstacle in his bid to practice and compete at the level he desires. He’s no longer able to wow the crowds with his amazing shots like the way he used to back in the day. Padraig Harrington also shared his two cents on the topic.
“I can’t stay on a putting green and hit 500 putts, you know, because my back gets all bad… I’m still competitive, but I just wish I could get healthy enough to really get my game back and be able to compete on that tour,” The Wild Thing added. Now, another former PGA Tour pro is voicing concern about his legs as he enters the physically demanding part of the season.
Harrington spoke to the press during the ongoing Senior Major Championship about how his body is holding up after nearly four days of golf in nine days. “I could be [struggling] by the end of the week. Mind you, I only had two rounds last week. I’ve been working very hard on my legs. The physio has been very diligent—I’ve been getting a lot of work done. I decided to train much harder on my legs,” the three-time major winner explained.
The Irish golfer recently participated in the 2025 PGA Championship, carding 2-over-par across two days. He narrowly missed the cut by just one stroke, despite shooting under par on the second day. However, there was no time to rest, as he had to head to Bethesda, Maryland, to prepare for the next major on the PGA Tour Champions, which begins Thursday. For a 53-year-old, that’s a demanding schedule.
“Instead of protecting my knees—which I’ve had a lot of problems with for years—I’m now focusing on strengthening them, and I think I’m winning the battle. Normally, by hole 13 or 14, everything starts to ache and hurt, but I’ve been feeling good this week so far,” Harrington added.
The two-time Open Championship winner is in strong contention at the second major of the Champions Tour season. He is currently sitting T4 with a score of 4-under-par, just two strokes behind a three-way tie for the lead. That means he’s likely to play two more rounds. Hence, making it six days of competitive golf in just eleven days, not counting practice sessions or travel in between.
Finished strong in the windy conditions with 3 birdies over the last 5 holes to keep myself in the hunt. Shot 69 for a total of 4 under, 2 back. @seniorpgachamp @ChampionsTour pic.twitter.com/vM6JtZhal1
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) May 24, 2025
“I think, as well, if you’re in contention in a tournament, you’ll get through a lot. It’s when you drop out of contention that things get harder on the body and things like that. I should be okay for two more days.” Harrington further explained how the tour puts golfers, especially seniors, through a tough predicament. It is incredibly tough during this stretch as the Tour features two majors.
Unlike the normal 54-hole competitions of three days, majors are full-fledged tournaments with 72 holes across 4 days. Last week, while the PGA Championship was going on, the seniors were taking part in the Regions Tradition in Alabama. It was the first major of the season. Angel Cabrera won the event. However, in less than a week, the above 50 golfers are teeing off again at the more prestigious Senior PGA Championship. This headlines a stretch of four events back-to-back on the Tour.
Harrington is in a good position ahead of the weekend
“I like being 4-under a lot more than 1-under, that’s for sure. At 1-under I was feeling like I was — like Ronan said it to me when we got through the first hole. He said, look, we’ve only played 28 holes. There’s still a long way to go in this tournament,” Padraig Harrington explained. The 2022 US Senior Open winner was teetering at 1 under par at the end of 13 holes on day 2. That was before he carded an impressive 3 birdies to move into T4 along with 6 other golfers. This does put him in a good position to fight for the title during the weekend.
The Irishman has good experience. Hence, he knows the requirements to expend that extra effort to push for victory. In this age, once there is clear daylight between you and the top of the leaderboard, it is very difficult to claw back and fight for the title. Thankfully, he is not in such a position.
“You’ve got to be inside the top 10 if you’re going to compete in these tournaments. Very rarely do you see people coming nowadays from well back. Years ago it used to happen. But I think they’re pretty much showing you want to be in the top 10 nearly after day one. If not after day two, in order to have a chance of winning a tournament,” Padraig Harrington said. That’s definitely a necessity to survive in the cutthroat competition the golfers face.
Do you think Padraig Harrington can oust the leaders and win only his second senior major championship?
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