Padraig Harrington withdraws from US PGA Championship

Triple big winner Harrington has dropped to 391 in the world rankings

Former champion Padraig Harrington has pulled out of next week's US PGA Championship in San Francisco.

The Irishman, who won in 2008, gave no reason, but he hasn't played competitively since golf was suspended in March amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Open Italy champion, Francesco Molinari, has also retired from the first major of the year at TPC Harding Park.

Harrington, 48, and 37-year-old Molinari have been replaced in the field by the Americans Talor Gooch and Troy Merritt.

Englishmen Lee Westwood and Eddie Pepperell have not traveled to San Francisco for the tournament either – which starts on August 3 – despite the easing of quarantine restrictions on players and essential personnel.

Golf on the PGA Tour returned in June, but spectators are not allowed.

The moved US Open on Winged Foot & # 39; s West course in September will be played without fans.

No decision has yet been made on the crowds for the last major of the restructured season, the Masters in Augusta, which is now scheduled for November 12-15.