Tired Harrington finally hits the wall

GOLF US PGA:THE TOWEL hadn't been thrown in, and - no - he hadn't raised a white flag either. But you didn't require a PhD degree in psychology to decipher Pádraig Harrington's mindset at the mid-point of the 90th US PGA championship at Oakland Hills, in the northern suburbs of Detroit, yesterday.

The guy had finally hit the wall. He was mentally jaded.

Fatigue had hit the double British Open champion, and the army golf of his last few holes - spraying shots left and right - left him signing for a second round 74, for a five-over-par total of 145. "I've just run out of steam," commented Harrington. "I did my best to be ready, but clearly I'm not. What can I say? The harder I tried (to play), the worse it got. Obviously, I'm having a (mental) hangover after winning the Open."

His demeanour was a far cry from the self-professed confidence earlier in the week, in the run-in to the season's final major. But a late finish to his round on Thursday - when there was a weather delay due to a thunderstorm - and, then, a 5am alarm call for his second round tee-time seemed to have taken its toll for the Dubliner, who struggled to focus on the task at hand yesterday and slipped to the fringes of contention.

If there was any solace, it was that he had made the cut and at least has a further 36 holes in which to turn things around.

"I'd love to just go with the flow . . . (but) when you're not mentally strong, it is hard to stop your mind from wandering away. I thought I was ready coming in, but I'm not. I don't have the focus, and that's clearly a sign of being mentally fatigued."

Harrington's second round - a 74 to follow Thursday's 71 - contained the good, the bad and the plain ugly. The ugliest shots came towards the end, a pushed drive on the eighth that went so far right he got relief from a temporary internal fence close to the merchandise enclosure and then a pulled tee-shot on the ninth (his finishing hole) that came to rest some 25 yards left of the green. Both indiscretions led to bogeys.

"I'd no ability to make my shots or to make anything happen," claimed Harrington, of how his game went AWOL.

"I kept changing my mind mid-swing and that's why I hit some really bad shots at the end . . . . (but) I'm quite happy with the consequences of winning the Open if this is it. I realise it takes a lot to come back out and try to perform in a major two weeks after winning one. Maybe they are too close."

The two-week gap between the British Open and the US PGA is the shortest between any of the majors: there is a seven-week gap between the US Masters and the US Open, and a three-week break between the US Open and the British Open.