Padraig Harrington, who returns to action at the Buick Invitational in San Diego on Thursday, has had two non-malignant melanomas removed from around his right eye.

"I had them looked at just before Christmas and had them cut out 10 days ago," said the Open and USPGA champion on the eve of the event.

Harrington, who had similar surgery in 2007, is in America for the next four weeks, but may then skip the CA World Championship at Doral in Miami on March 12-15.

That would enable him to fully recharge his batteries before the final countdown to The US Masters, where he will try to become only the third player in golf history to win three majors in a row.

"I'm unlikely to play Doral," he added. "I'm not fully committed at the moment, but it looks like I'll take a three-week break there and go home and work on things.

"Usually I peak in my third week, so I look to put the majors the third week. I'd love to play all the best tournaments but you've got to schedule these things for what works best to help you peak when you need to."