Philip Reid outlines how the Irish challenge disintegrated on the opening day of the championship

How do you explain what happened to Padraig Harrington? He was a bit like the guy cruising the highway without a care in the world, only to make a pit stop and put diesel instead of petrol into the tank. Rather than coasting along as he had done for 13 holes, the Dubliner then spluttered his way home.

And, by the time he came off the 18th green, Harrington's aspirations for any kind of challenge in the US PGA championship had all but gone after signing for a three-over-par 75.

"My preparation hadn't been good and I didn't feel that comfortable over the ball," he said. "I definitely feel like I should play the week before (a major). It would have been nice to have some more competitive practice coming in."

The morning had started solemnly for Harrington, who was one of those to gather on the practice putting green at 6.30am for an address from Tom Lehman, the US Ryder Cup captain, in honour of Darren Clarke's wife, Heather. By the time he had signed his card, though, a different type of sombreness could be attributed to Harrington's demeanour.

This is how it was: for 13 holes, despite a penchant for standing back after addressing the ball, he had played golf that had him on two-under and on the fringe of the leaders. He could have been even better off. On the short 13th, 244 yards, Harrington had hit his hybrid club in to six feet; and when he missed the birdie putt, it seemed that, from nowhere, a spanner had been thrown in to the works.

Indeed, from out of the blue, error after error crept into Harrington's game. On the 605-yard 14th, after finding the right side of the fairway off the tee, where he was slightly blocked out by trees, he proceeded to put his second shot into the rough down the left. Still, with only a sandwedge in his hand, he should have made the green. He didn't, and then only pitched his next shot to 15 feet and missed the putt.

Another bogey followed on the 15th where he drove into a fairway bunker and then came up short of the green before chipping to 15 feet and missing the par putt.

But the real disaster came on the 16th, a severe dog-leg left. Harrington's five-wood off the tee ran through the fairway into the rough. He then put his second shot left into thick rough, failed to get the ball sufficiently up the hill from there and then duffed his fourth shot. He finished with a triple bogey seven.

"In hindsight, I definitely should have hit three-iron (off the tee)," said Harrington, after his tee-shot exceeded the 265-yard run out. "It looks as if that decision cost me three shots."

Harrington goes into the second round needing to go low simply to survive the cut. Any number in mind? "No idea what number, I'll just have to wait and see," said a sombre Harrington.

For Graeme McDowell, it is also an uphill battle to survive the cut after an opening round 75. "I played awful," said McDowell, who got off to a dreadful start when he was three-over par after four holes. The real damage came on the 13th where he ran up a double-bogey (without going in the water).

McDowell apportioned some of the blame for his disappointing round to the fact he had been working on his swing in recent days. "I've been trying to get my draw back. I'd been working on neutralising my ball flight all year and I've got to where I'm not drawing it very consistently right now. I've been working on a draw the last couple of days and I went out today and I wasn't 100 per cent happy with what I was doing, to be honest with you.

"This golf course is tricky when you start missing fairways and getting out of position. I just didn't hit it well today, didn't put it into position at all.

"I'm a little disappointed. I didn't really get it going."