Fred Funk remembers walking into a bunker and digging his feet into the sand to set up for a shot during practice after his rehabilitation from a knee replacement.

It was a beautiful moment.

“I couldn’t do that before,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I got this. This is golden.’ ”

Funk had a message for anyone living with chronic knee or hip pain when he spoke at Innsbrook Country Club this month: Don’t be afraid to get it replaced.

Like many aging warriors, Funk, who won eight times on the PGA Tour and nine on the Champions Tour, played through searing pain in his right knee for nearly three years before taking the plunge.

Funk received a total knee replacement in November 2009 at age 53.

He’ll tee it up Thursday in the U.S. Senior Open at Warren Golf Course at Notre Dame with his 10-year old knee.

“My message to people is don’t be scared to have a joint replacement,” Funk said. “It’s a big deal to have a joint replaced, but it’s a bigger deal to be living in chronic pain.”

Funk’s problems started in 2007. He worked out hard that winter doing high-intensity, high-impact training.

His knee started bothering him then, forcing him to get an MRI.

Funk said doctors “scooped the cartilage out of my right knee. It was bone-on-bone.”

Despite being in constant pain, which was aggravated by the force applied to his knee during his golf swing, Funk continued to play through the 2008 season.

Funk said he had his knee drained 18 times after the issue started.

“I was miserable every time I played,” Funk said. “It would blow up when I played, but I was playing good and I was afraid to do anything.”

The tipping point came when Funk was hospitalized for a staph infection after having his knee drained.

He spent six weeks in the hospital on antibiotics and he said he came close to losing his leg.

Funk still didn’t give in, though.

He played through the 2009 season and finally opted for surgery in November of that year.

Funk is a spokesperson for Stryker Orthopaedics, which manufactures the technology for the Robotic-Arm assisted components for knee replacements.

“I got my full range of motion back,” Funk said. “I’m a walking testament for the technology.”

Funk was hitting balls four weeks after his replacement.

His rehab was grueling. He worked on it for six hours a day in the early part of his recovery.

“I really didn’t know what would happen,” he said. “I knew I was putting off the inevitable. I wasn’t sure if it would be a career-ender.”

Turned out to be the opposite.

Funk won the Jeld-Wen Tradition in August 2010, making him the only golfer to win a major championship with an artificial knee.

He has won three other Champion Tour events since the replacement.

Funk’s knee is the least of his problems now.

Last summer, he had surgery on his back for what he said was an “impinged nerve.” And 1 1/2 years ago, he tore his hamstring while swinging his driver.

His recovery for the hamstring injury is rest, which Funk doesn’t do well. It’s been a nagging injury that has shortened his swing and reduced his distance off the tee.

He spent seven hours practicing alone at Warren two weeks ago to prepare for the Senior Open.

He comes limping into Notre Dame after finishing in 75th place at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison.

Funk is determined to rise again.

“The knee is not an issue,” he said. “Everything else is an issue. I don’t want to end my career hurt. I want to go out on my own terms.”