US PGA Diary: Why Pádraig Harrington is going for Olympic gold

Pádraig Harrington probably has good reason not to remember a thing about his performance here in the 2005 US PGA Championship. It came just a month after his later father Paddy – his sporting inspiration – had passed away and the Dubliner shot double-digits over par to miss the cut by a country mile.

“Maybe that’s why I don’t remember,” acknowledged Harrington, who – still chasing a spot in the season-ending FedEx Cup series stateside – has made the PGA and the Olympics in a fortnight the two main targets for his season.

Which one would he cherish most? Typical of Harrington, he is not one to follow the crowd. “It might be sacrilege in the golfing world but I think an Olympic medal would add more to my career at this moment than a fourth Major. Now, maybe if we were discussing a Major I hadn’t won, maybe four is pivotal only if I get to five, (or) six, if I’m going to move off from four, (it might be different). But an Olympic gold medal, that would be massive and very unique in the game.”

Massive 649-yard par-five 17th a test for the best

Don’t expect carnage on any particular hole. There’s nothing like the Road Hole at St Andrews, or the 11th at Royal Troon where some players found the railway line instead of the fairway. There’s no island green like the 17th at Sawgrass, or an angelic short hole with devilish intent like the 12th at Augusta.

No, what Baltusrol offers players in this PGA Championship is a course that plays fair and square, with, as Rory McIlroy describes it, “no real hidden secrets to it”.

And, yet, there is a little mental sting in the tail with no Par 5s until the closing two holes, the 17th and the 18th. The finishing hole, even with the water in play on the left on approach shots, offers a chance for a dramatic eagle or birdie. The 17th does not, and only John Daly has previously managed to reach the green in two.

In fact, the 17th - although not as long as the 12th hole at Oakmont for this year’s US Open - is a long slog that will require players’ to keep alert minds on the job at hand. The Par 17th here plays to a length of 649 yards which, back in 2005, only conceded one eagle to the entire field over the four rounds. As past champion Lee Janzen quipped, “This may be a Par 6!”

Any of the big-hitters seeking to reach the green in two will need to carry the cross bunkers off the tee - look for Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau and Rory McIlroy to be among those flexing their muscles - but the majority of the field will be aiming and hoping to make it a three-shot play to the green and move on without inflicting too much damage to their cards.

‘Beef’ Johnson’s new ‘jerky’ wedge

Andrew “Beef” Johnston has a new pitching wedge in his bag for the US PGA which is certainly unique: he is calling it a “Jerky Wedge” - really! - and it is engraved with the names of beef dishes. So it is that carpaccio, Mongolian, Bordelaise, bourguignon, Bolognese and broccoli, jerky , Wellington, Stroganoff and boullion are all delicately carved into the butt end of the club.

If the Englishman’s sense of fun might seem it is deflecting him from golf, nothing could be further from the truth. “It might come across like that to some people but it’s all about the golf. First thing’s first is golf, that’s what I grew up doing, watching and where I want to be . . . . the most important thing is golf, more than anything else.”

By the Numbers

0/72: Sergio Garcia’s (ever longer) pursuit of a breakthrough Major title continues: in his career to date, the Spaniard has yet to win in 72 starts in the Majors, but has managed four runners-up finishes among them two second place finishes in the PGA. Will it be a case of 73rd time lucky?

Quote of the day

“She’s like freaking out in the back on the bus, and she’s like, ‘Call 911, call 911’. So I’m trying to look for Benadryl, and we didn’t have any; we ended up calling 911 and the paramedics came and they looked after her . . . . we got a little bit of loss of sleep but we’re fine” – Jason Day on his wife, Ellie’s, allergic food reaction. The couple left the hospital at 2am in the early hours of Wednesday morning.