Harrington feeding on Netflix and curry in quarantine
Pádraig Harrington is on the mend as he recovers from Covid-19 in one of the most exclusive golf resorts in the world.
The European Ryder Cup skipper spoke to Golfweek at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where he is cooped up in The Lodge, one of the world’s best golf hotels, where his second-story balcony overlooks the first tee.
He is in the middle of a 10-day period of self-isolation n the CDC and PGA Tour protocols and looking forward to getting out on Wednesday and driving straight to Los Angeles to compete in The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
“I’m doing good,” the three-time major champion told Golfweek. “I basically would call what I have a mild ‘flu. I have symptoms I know I’ve had in the past where I would have tried to go out and work and practice and get through it and then I’d get home and say, ‘I really should have stayed in bed for 24 hours and taken some medicine.’
“But if this is my outcome, I’m actually delighted and very lucky. If all I get from this is a couple of days of the mild flu and I don’t have any long-term effects, it’s not the end of the world. I’ll have the antibodies in my body.
“But COVID is not to be messed with. I want to make sure to do everything I can to beat this. I know I have to do all the stuff I need to do and I am doing that.”
Harrington is famous for practising in his room and started swinging and putting on the carpet between snoozes.
Physically, you can work on drills but you can never recreate the speed of a golf swing without hitting a ball so I’m not doing any of that. I’m still taking it very easy. I don’t want to stress my body,” he said.
“There are worst places to be than in The Lodge and looking out on the first tee at Pebble Beach and catching up on my Netflix. I did the whole two seasons of Mindhunter. Eighteen hours I got through. It’s excellent.
“I’m texting people about the Ryder Cup. You could have a competition on how many cups of tea I’m going to drink these 10 days. I’m at about 6 to 8 before 12 o’clock in the day. And last night I had the nicest curry I have ever had. It was just phenomenal. The coconut, the carrots, the broccoli.”
He revealed that he spoke with actor Bill Murray, explaining: “I’ve come to learn how important eye contact is. A little bit of eye contact is very nice. Seeing the players from afar and seeing Bill Murray and talking with him was very nice.”
As for his routine, he could not be happier with interest the hotel and the tour have taken in his welfare.
“The PGA Tour has been on top of things. I’ve had Zoom meetings with my team and the Tour’s team all the way through and I get two calls a day from the Tour and one from The Lodge to see how I’m doing,” he told Golfweek.
“They are checking on me and that feels very reassuring. The Tour has been excellent with their response as well as The Lodge.”
As for next week’s Genesis Invitational, he is not concerned about not having time for a practice round.
“The last time I played without practice rounds was the 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale,” he said. “But I have to feel good and have to determine if I could be ready to play without hitting golf balls for 10 days. I have to feel healthy. If so, hopefully I’ll have a late tee time.
“A friend of mine had COVID and I’m in contact with him and he tells me what to expect. That is so important. He’s told me that I will feel things and wonder if it’s coming back, is it getting worse, things like that. And if I feel something, I rest.
“So getting better is the most important thing. That’s all that matters right now.”
