GOLF:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON'S plans for the rest of of the golfing year will take shape over the coming days as he tries to get in under the wire for the lucrative FedEx Cup play-offs with a strong showing at the Wyndham Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Dubliner is presently ranked at number 130 in the list, with just the top 125 teeing it up in the opening Barclays Championship in New Jersey on August 25th.
Harrington will play the opening rounds with two other players looking to make the leap into the top 125, with Justin Leonard (142nd) and Paul Casey (147th) a little further back in the standings. The trio tee off at 12.30pm Irish time today .
One player keen to get back on the course is Jason Dufner, who is keen to dispel the funereal air surrounding him following last weekend’s USPGA Championship play-off defeat.
The American, who lost a play-off to Keegan Bradley at the Atlanta Athletic Club, has expressed his surprise that those around him this have been so sullen following his superb performance in Georgia.
Dufner makes an immediate return to action at the Sedgefield Country Club and is in good spirits.
“It’s been kind of a weird experience,” Dufner said. “Everybody that’s come up to me almost feel like it’s a funeral or something tragic happened. But I don’t feel that way at all. It was a great experience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to win that event. But I had a great chance, my best opportunity, probably, to win my first tour event.”
Dufner has unsurprisingly attracted significantly more attention from the media ahead of this week’s event.
“I think all the questions that have been asked of me (by journalists) have been pretty honest,” he admitted.
“People are trying to do their job. They want to, I guess you’d say, get in my head and see where I’m at. I’m pretty confident and pretty good with it. I don’t see how you can see anything negative from being in a play-off at a Major other than not winning.”
The Lowdown
Course: Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina.
Length: 7,130 yards. Par: 70.
Prize money: €3.6 million, (€635,849 for the winner)
Field: 156.
Last year: Arjun Atwal made par at the last to win by one shot from David Toms.
The layout: The 507-yard par 4 18th is one of the hardest holes and provides a tough finish. The greens are very undulating with plenty of run-off areas.
On TV:Sky Sports 3 from 8pm this evening.
Weather forecast:Hot and humid with little wind and a threat of thunderstorms.
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