Padraig Harrington will undergo surgery next week in order to clear up knee cartilage damage.
Harrington, who sustained the injury while playing football during the winter, will play this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth before going under the knife.
The double British Open champion will be out of action for about three weeks but expects to be fit again in time for the US Open at Pebble Beach, which starts on 14 June.
He said: “I played football at Christmas, as we do, and I tore cartilage in my knee. I had an MRI a couple of months back and another one last week. There’s a bit of stuff floating around in there and they want to take it out before it causes me any problems.
“If I wait until the end of the year the doctor feels it could cause some arthritic problems and if I can have it cleared up now it reduces the chances of arthritis for around 20 years.
“It’s just a precautionary thing. I had a lot of pain for the first number of weeks through Christmas that inhibited my ability to train.
“At the moment it doesn’t affect my golf except for the fact I struggle to squat down to read putts.
“Seemingly it can wear the bone out if it’s left too long. There’s no way I would have pulled out of this week, The Masters or US Open.”
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