PLAYERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON has proven he can win the really big championships. Inside the past two years, he has claimed the claret jug – twice – as British Open champion and captured the Wanamaker Trophy as US PGA champion too. It's just that the swing and game that brought him those majors have deserted him; and, as he heads into the Players' Championship at Sawgrass, starting tomorrow, the Dubliner is seeking to play his way out of what he describes as a "blip."
The statistics make for harrowing reading for Harrington, an accountant by trade who knows the true meaning of numbers. At the Masters at Augusta, he signed for a nine one day, a seven another. In last week’s Quail Hollow Championship, he finished his first round with a triple bogey six followed by a double bogey six.
Yesterday, at Sawgrass, it was put to him these were “un-Harrington-like” scores. “We don’t think of men winning major championships playing holes like that,” remarked his inquisitor.Harrington accepted the criticism. “Results-wise, they haven’t exactly been what I wanted so far this year. A lot comes down to my mindset . . . I’m not trying to play as well as I played last year to win the two majors, I’m trying to play better than that.
“When you win something, a lot of players take stock and all of a sudden you use it as a platform to get better, to move forward. And, sometimes, to get better and move forward you work on your weaknesses . . . and, when you work on your weaknesses, sometimes your strengths get a little weak . . . Because I’ve been so focused on working on things, my strengths have definitely not been as good. So, like a lot of things, if you’re trying to move forward, you often have to take a step back. I’m still in the middle of the process.
“I’m not saying I’m pulling my swing apart, but in some ways that’s what I’m doing. I’m more focused on the technical side of things than the scoring, and that’s probably where some of these blips are coming on.”
However, just as he did in the run-up to the Masters, Harrington plans to stop tweaking his game and to go with what he has in the build-up to next month’s US Open at Bethpage in New York. “After this run (of tournaments), hopefully I’ll be able to get back to working on my strengths and be ready to go for the US Open.”
Harrington’s schedule after the Players will see him return home for next week’s 3 Irish Open at Baltray, followed by a two-week break – bypassing the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA at Wentworth – before heading back stateside for the Memorial tournament and the St Jude Classic in the weeks preceding the US Open.
Harrington twice finished runner-up in the Players before changes were made to the course (especially the greens) and it was moved from its March date to this new slot in the calendar in May.
Yet, despite missing the cut twice in the past three years, he said: “It suits me more than it did back then. The rough was very heavy and very lush four years ago, so if you hit it in the rough you tended to have to chip out. Now, it’s (playing) harder and faster. If you hit it in the rough off the tee, you’ve got a chance to get it up around the green and that should suit somebody who is better around the greens than, say, hitting fairways.”
Harrington will begin his first round tomorrow at 6.10pm Irish time (1.10pm Florida) alongside Geoff Ogilvy and Steve Stricker.Rory McIlroy makes his Players debut with Jason Bohn and Jeff Overton at 2.10pm (Irish, 9.10am local). Graeme McDowell is out at 12.30pm (Irish, 7.30am local) with John Rollins and Bob Estes.
