Harrington happy with his game but looking for consistency

One swallow doesn’t make a summer and, yet, there were reasons for Pádraig Harrington to be cheerful on the back of his top-10 finish in the FedEx St Jude Classic as he moved on to the tougher examination of this week’s 113th US Open at Merion, a course where fairways will be the tightest encountered by players on tour this season.

Not that the three-time Major champion could feel all hisgolfing ills had been cured ahead of the new test on the horizon.

After all, his previous top-10s on the US Tour this season – in the Phoenix Open and the Valero Texas Open – were followed by missed cuts the following week, at the Pebble Beach pro-am and the US Masters respectively.

Long-putter in bag
This time, though, seems different. The stats from St Jude showed an improvement in driving accuracy and, perhaps even more crucially, in his putting.

Maybe, after all, the long-putter, put into his bag with an element of reluctance, is turning from foe into a friend of sorts.

“I did what I needed to do,” said Harrington of using the St Jude Classic as his final preparatory event ahead of Merion.

"It was a grind and it's going to be a grind (in the US Open) . . . my game is definitely on the up. There's no doubt about it. I feel like I'm better in control of my swing, and (the) short game is sharp and the putting, which has been my Achilles' heel over the last year (is better). Since I've gone to the belly putter (it) has definitely improved.

'Few good weeks'
"I'd like to see a little bit of sustainability because I've had a few good weeks this year and never followed it up with two, three good weeks. So hopefully I'll get it right and keep it," added Harrington, who is facing into probably the most hectic part of his season, with the US Open followed by a stretch of tournaments that takes in next week's Travelers on the US Tour before returning to Europe for the Irish Open in a fortnight's time and, then, the Scottish Open and the British Open.

Whilst a number of players hit Merion over the weekend – among them Tiger Woods and Zach Johnson – Harrington was happier to include the Memphis event, in spite of the course having different grasses on the greens than will be evident in Philadelphia, on his schedule rather than have a week off. "I like to play the week before the (US) Open, I like to be competitive going into a Major."

Irish contingent
Harrington is part of a five-strong Irish contingent competing in the season's second Major, where he is joined by world number two Rory McIlroy – who took a different approach to the Dubliner and played extensive practice rounds over the Merion layout last week – along with in-form Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Waterford amateur Kevin Phelan.

McIlroy, struggling to regain the form that saw him dominate the second half of the European and US Tours last season, described the Merion course as “interesting” after his practice visit last week.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played anything similar . . . there’s a mixture of everything. You have (birdie) chances around the middle of the golf course and a brutal finish,” he remarked.

"In terms of length, it's different to the normal US Open set-up. There's no gradation of the rough. If the ball is a couple of feet (in the rough), you're just trying to get back out to the fairway and some of the greens are pretty severe where you're trying to get (the ball) below the pin," said McIlroy.

Missed the cut
McDowell hasn't played since the BMW PGA at Wentworth – where he missed the cut – but, with two wins on tour already this season, and a much improved short game, the Ulsterman, runner-up to Webb Simpson at the Olympic Club in San Francisco last year, is among the favourites heading on a course measuring four yards less than 7,000 yards.

The lack of length is made up for by heavy rough, deep bunkering and slick greens which US Tour player Kevin Chappell likened to “a tour event on steroids”.

Woods, meanwhile, was among those to further his preparation on the course on Sunday at a time when Harris English – whose maiden win came too late to earn an invitation into the Major – was conquering the field in Memphis. Geoff Ogilvy was another of the earlier arrivals, remarking the rough is “longer than we’ve seen” in recent US Open venues.