Padraig Harrington’s golf in 2009 bears little or no resemblance to that of last year. The Open starts in 24 days and yet the defending champion is in the worst slump of his career. His world ranking has fallen from third last August to eleventh and two rounds of 76 in the US Open, 20 more than Ricky Barnes, the halfway leader, meant that he missed his fourth cut in a row.

Harrington is a tinkerer with his swing. He says that he has always done it, making him the player he is. But his friends and followers want him to stop mucking about with a swing that has won him three major championships in the past 23 months because it seems to have left him playing worse. They think he has tinkered his swing into a mess.

“Tinkering is nothing new for me,” Harrington said on Saturday. “It is how I have managed to improve. I have done it throughout my career.”

He maintains there have been improvements in his game as a result, citing his putting and bunker play. “This will make me a better player going forward,” he said. “Anyway, I haven’t been doing any changing in the last three or four weeks or so. There is none of that at this stage.”

But his followers suggest that if it had not been for his short game he might have gone round in 80 in the second round.

“It can come round in a day,” he said. “This game is fickle in that way but I would believe that it can come around in four weeks and that by the time I tee it up at the Open I will be ready. I suppose with form, there is more hope than expectation.”

There was a pause after he said that and then a defiant glare: “Anyway, as my caddie said, I am the only player holding two major titles.”