GOLF/ TOUR NEWS:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON'S momentum is at least headed in the right direction, as a second successive top-10 finish on the US Tour has enabled the Dubliner to return home for a short break before resuming his build-up to the US Masters (April 8th-11th) in a fortnight's time knowing his tinkering is done and his mind is focused on the job at hand.
As he put it: “I’m pretty much in the midst of playing golf at the moment and not too worried about technique.”
Harrington – who eventually finished tied-eighth in the Transitions Championship on Sunday, which left him seven shots adrift of Jim Furyk who ended a two-and-a-half-year winless drought on tour going back to the 2007 Canadian Open and moved up to sixth in the latest official world rankings – has a week off before returning to the States where he will play in the Houston Open as his final preparatory tournament ahead of Augusta.
Graeme McDowell is the lone Irish player competing in this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, which will he his final tournament before the Masters. The Ulsterman has opted to take the week off ahead of the season’s first major, in contrast to both Harrington and Rory McIlroy, who are missing Bay Hill and using the event in Texas as their final tune-up.
Although Harrington didn’t manage to bring the momentum of his first two rounds, after which he held the 36-hole lead, through to the weekend, he was able to take the consolation that he had put himself into the mix for a second straight tournament.
“You put yourself out there and you put yourself on the line; that tests where your game is at. Some weeks, the results happen and you get a win, and some weeks they won’t. I’ve played tournaments where I’ve played great coming down the stretch and not won and I’ve played tournaments where I’ve played average and won. So, it’s not always about the result . . . it’s more about putting yourself in competition right up there and testing yourself.”
Harrington’s results in his past two outings have taken a turn for the better, this tied-eighth finish following on from his tied-third in the WGC-CA Championship. Now, like McIlroy, he will use the Houston Open – where the tournament organisers set up the greens as closely as possible to mimicking those at Augusta – to iron out any chinks before settling into the Masters week.
McIlroy is in the middle of a second week at home, where he has combined some rest and down-time with working with coach Michael Bannon, while McDowell – who completes the threesome of Irishmen in the Masters – is currently competing in the Tavistock Cup, which finishes today, before heading down the road to the Bay Hill Invitational where he finished second back in 2005.
For Furyk, the win in the Transitions gave him an overdue win on tour and his seventh career success on the US Tour. Although he won the Chevron World Challenge in December, which had world rankings points, it was an unofficial tournament and the lack of a win since the 2007 Canadian Open had started to play on his mind.
“I was disappointed in myself the last two and a half years that I had not won . . . it bothers me a lot, because that’s the goal every week,” admitted Furyk, who believes he is “still at the peak of my career. How many more years that will last for, who knows, but I feel like I have way more golf tournaments”.
South Korea’s KJ Choi finished runner-up to Furyk and moved to 47th in the latest world rankings, which, as things stand, will get him into the Masters.
The top-50 in the world after this week’s Bay Hill Invitational will get an invite.
While McDowell will be the sole Irish player in action stateside this week, there’s a large contingent in action in the Andalucian Open in Malaga. Paul McGinley, Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin, Gary Murphy and Simon Thornton are all in the field, while former Walker Cup player Niall Kearney – who has recovered from a shoulder operation – is competing in the Kenya Open on the Challenge Tour.
