Harrington lets cards fall where they may

Golf:Too shy or too wise to say it himself, Padraig Harrington – after shooting a second round 69 for a midway 36-holes total of 142, two-over-par – still seemed enamoured with the thought that, some eight months into the year, this weekend could be the start of his season.

After grinding for a number of holes and playing some wonderful golf on others, the 39-year-old Dubliner – who did his best to ignore the travails of playing partner Tiger Woods as he missed the cut in the PGA for the first time in his career – was asked if this weekend could transform his season. “I honestly wouldn’t put myself on the line like that,” he responded, before conceding: “Yes, it could turn my year around. Of course it could. But I’m not saying it will.”

Ah, there might be light at the end of the tunnel, after all, for the three-time Major champion who moved into the final two rounds with a mixture of intent and conservatism. His second round 69 here at Atlanta Athletic Club was actually his first sub-70 round in a Major since the third round of the PGA at Hazeltine in 2009. Maybe things are turning his way, at last!

Jason Dufner, a ‘rookie’ in the Majors, and Byron Nelson championship winner Keegan Bradley – both on five-under-par midway totals of 135 – shared the overnight lead, with fellow-Americans Jim Furyk, Scott Verplank and DA Points and Australian John Senden in tied-third a shot further back.

Yet, the cluttered nature of the leaderboard – with the cut falling on four-over-par 144 – would make conditions ripe for a player to make a weekend charge . . . and Harrington, as he did in claiming the title at Oakland Hills in 2009, can head into the final two rounds with a pep in the step that has been missing in recent months.

This weekend offers him a chance to rescue a season, with the chance not only to get into the mix in the actual tournament but also with the side issue of perhaps qualifying for the season-ending FedEx Cup series on the US Tour. As things stand, the Dubliner is outside the top-125 on the standings but now has an opportunity to gatecrash his way into the series that starts with the Barclays Championship in a fortnight’s time.

Old enough and wise enough to know that he can’t put too much expectation on his shoulders heading into the weekend, especially given his results over the summer months, Harrington nevertheless claimed that he wouldn’t accept a top-10 finish if that were promised to him.

As he put it: “I wouldn’t accept anything you were offering to me bar first place. I would take my chance. But the fact is, nobody is going to give me anything, anyway. I have to go out there and play it. But I take my chances.

“Even if you gave me a Top 10, I’d take my chances.”