Harrington's mental masterplan for Augusta

Slap your cash on Padraig Harrington if he picks up an injury before the Masters.

The Dubliner overcame a stiff neck to win the Open at Carnoustie in '07, ignored a wrist injury to retain the Open at Royal Birkdale and then recovered from mid-tournament dehydration to claim the US PGA last August.

Laughing at the prospect of being crocked before the Masters, Harrington is trying to replicate the same conditions inside his head.

When you're injured, the pressure is off. So why not just try and take the pressure off yourself and go from there.

He said: "Golfers are very good when there is a distraction. What affects golfers most at a tournament is their mental state and when they get injured - whether it be a physical injury or a sickness - obviously their mind is taken away from their physical game and solely makes them accept it a lot more.

"They are not under as much pressure because there is a reason if they don’t perform that week. They don’t have to blame themselves. They can blame an injury or an illness and that makes them relax a little more and be more accepting.

"These are all the mental states that we try to get into without the injuries and this is stuff that I would work on with Bob Rotella. To make sure that I am in that state of mind.

"But an injury or an illness or something like that, how many times have guys gone out to win tournaments when the didn’t think they were going to tee it up on the Thursday morning because they were sick all the night before.

"And yet they go out and play because it seems like a new lease of life for that week and it feels like they are on a shot to nothing. I try and create that sense anyway with Bob Rotella but it is easier when you are pushed into it by an actual, physical happening."