Harrington downplays Open chances

WHO KNOWS what awaits, most of all the man who owns the Claret Jug? Yesterday, Pádraig Harrington and his clan took the helicopter trip across the Irish Sea from his home in the foothills of the Dublin mountains to Turnberry, where this week he set about attempting to win a third straight British Open.

On Saturday afternoon, he had rediscovered the art of winning. The timing couldn’t have been better. Perfect symmetry, in fact. In annexing the Irish PGA Championship at The European Club for a third straight year, an act which for the past two years he has followed by claiming the oldest major in the sport, Harrington rediscovered some of his old self.

For sure, there was no harm in what happened to the Dubliner on the links hard by Brittas Bay over the four days of the Irish PGA.

In all, he took 283 shots – some good, some bad . . . but some brilliant – for the 72 holes, which left him with a seven-shot cushion over runner-up Brian McElhinney.

And, after a season of missed cuts and poor results where the trademark smile had become somewhat forced, the one that broke across his face after a tap-in par putt on the 18th to retain the title was as genuine as they come. Perhaps it had as much to do with the arrival of his two sons, Paddy and Ciarán, on to the green.

Harrington, though, wasn’t letting the win – his third in a row in the Irish championship and the sixth of his career – go to his head. Afterwards, as he rested his weary frame in a chair in the recorder’s hut and the rain which had stung into players on a nasty old day pelted instead into the portacabin, Harrington talked of winning being “a habit” and how “important” it was to win this one, coming as it did after a run of five successive missed cuts on tour.

“I’m as prepared for links golf as I could be,” remarked Harrington. “We’ve probably covered everything here . . . . the weather really threw it at us. The biggest area that has let me down so far this year has been my putting and that has been excellent. I avoided three-putting this week. I just haven’t been doing that this year. I can’t afford to give up those shots and it was nice that my putting was right on track, so that’s the most pleasing thing.”

Yet, Harrington was reserved about how the win would impact on his bid to win a third straight British Open, admitting he would go into the championship with “trepidation rather than confidence”, explaining: “My preparation has been right for this one, so it’s a bit of a shot in the dark. I’m hopeful but, no, I haven’t prepared properly. I can’t expect much, but I can obviously hope (everything comes together).”

Harrington was adamant he would not be hitting the range at Turnberry to do any further work on his swing at Turnberry, and that his time with mind guru Bob Rotella would actually be more constructive.

“I’m not going to spend time (on the swing). That’s it, that’s reality. It doesn’t matter what way I am . . . I’m a bit anxious with how I’m hitting it but I know there’s no point (in working on the swing). I know the one way I can’t win the tournament is if I am still in the middle of a swing thought, thinking of my swing when I play the tournament.”

Although he had seven shots to spare this time (he won in a play-off in 2007 and by four shots in 2008 before going on to have the same winning margins in the Open, something he described as “a coincidence” rather than any grounds for superstition), Harrington claimed his ball-striking en route to this latest win was “poor”.

As he explained, “It’s gone from being as good as it could be to ‘okay, what’s going wrong?’ I am clutching at straws at the moment in terms of trying to find a little bit of a key to keep myself occupied. The great thing, as far as I am concerned, is that no matter what happens, I will be a better player coming out of it.”

All of which indicated Harrington was downplaying his chances ahead of his defence at Turnberry.

Still, there was no disguising the fact that the test at the European Club was ideal preparation ahead of Turnberry. “You don’t hit as many drivers (in the European) as I’ll hit (in Turnberry) but you are still making sure to get the ball in play at all costs. That’s the number-one rule, and that’s the biggest similarity (between the courses) . . . . this is a tough links and next week is going to be a tough links.”