Harrington, Molinari withdraw from PGA Championship

Major champions

Francesco Molinari

and

Padraig Harrington

have withdrawn from next week's

PGA Championship

in San Francisco, tournament organisers said on Thursday.


Neither player has competed on the

PGA Tour

since it resumed from the COVID-19 shutdown.

The PGA Championship was originally scheduled for May before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the first of three majors set to take place this year.

Harrington, a winner of three major titles and Europe's

Ryder Cup

captain, has been replaced by American Talor Gooch for the tournament at TPC Harding Park, organisers said in a statement.

Molinari, the 2018 British Open champion, has been replaced by

Troy Merritt

.