The defending British Open champion is plagued by a sore right wrist, which forced him to cut back a practice round Tuesday and raised doubts about whether he will be able to tee it up in the tournament.

Harrington insisted he'll be ready on Thursday -- with one caveat.

"Obviously I have to manage it between now and then," the Irishman said after scaling back to chipping and putting over the final nine holes of his practice session. "I've got to make sure I don't do anything to it. If I do nothing to it between now and Thursday, I'll be able to play."

The Open can sorely afford to lose another top player. Woods, a three-time British champion and the world's No. 1 player, is sitting out the rest of the year to recover from knee surgery. Another leading American, Kenny Perry, decided to skip the tournament despite winning three of his past five events on the PGA Tour.

Despite taking a couple of days off, Harrington was clearly not at full strength during his first practice round of the week at Royal Birkdale. He played the front side but made sure to avoid hitting any shots out of the thick rough. At the turn, he was checked by a doctor and decided to just work around the green over the final nine holes.

Asked how his wrist felt, Harrington said, "Fuzzy. Tingly. I was weak in the wrist, and that's why I didn't play the back nine."

He did walk the rest of the way with a group that included Woody Austin, Stephen Ames and Damien McGrane. Harrington merely watched on tee shots and irons from the fairway, then joined in after they got close to the flag. His caddie, Ronan Flood, ditched the bag and tailed along with a half-dozen wedges and a putter draped over his shoulder.

"I don't want to aggravate it anymore," Harrington said.

He sprained the wrist Saturday while swinging into an "impact bag," a sort of punching bag golfers use to strengthen that very crucial part of their bodies. He skipped two days of practice and got treatment, then decided to test it out on the course.

While Harrington failed to make it through all 18 holes, he's not considering the possibility of dropping out.

"Not at the moment, no," he said. "Unless I injured it again. I can't see that happening. As long as I avoid doing that, I'll be OK."

Harrington talked about putting last year's victory out of his head.

"I have to avoid and try to play down being the defending champion," Harrington said. "It obviously is a distraction for me."

Turns out, that's not the only one.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.