Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington smashed on the elbow by amateur’s swing and misses St Jude Classic

Two weeks after Padraig Harrington returned from neck surgery, he was struck in the left elbow by the club of an amateur he was teaching at a clinic.

Harrington required six deep stitches because he said the club hit him so flush that it cut into the bursa sac around the joint. He had to withdraw from the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, and hopes to be out only two weeks.

“There’s no truth to the rumour it was the amateur’s best strike of the day,” Harrington said.

It was no laughing matter on Monday at a clinic outside Washington. Harrington’s first thought was that he had shattered his elbow. When he saw the blood, he rushed to press ice against it immediately.

“Barring me fainting from the shock of pain, once I numbed it up, I couldn’t feel anything,” Harrington said.

Harrington, who tied for 31st at the Memorial last week, said he was trying to teach the amateur how to fix his hook. He was standing to the side, shoulder to shoulder to show the amateur what the swing should look like. Harrington stepped away and the man kept swinging.