Baltusrol Diary: Padraig Harrington could do with a Sherpa guide and bottled oxygen if he is to negotiate the uphill climb required to make the cut in the US PGA.
"You know, it was always going to be a difficult task anyway, but that score didn't help," said the Dubliner after an opening round 76 that featured no fewer than eight bogeys.
Without a top-10 finish in a major since the 2003 US Open, Harrington has a difficult task if he is to even make the cut here. "I drove it badly and made a couple of bad decisions. That was it. I just hit too many shots into trouble off the tee," he remarked of a round where he only hit 21 per cent of fairways and found only 50 per cent of greens in regulation.
What happened on the par five 18th - his ninth hole - typified his day, when his attempted recovery shot from a fairway bunker hit the lip and came back to his feet.
"It would have been nice if a couple of putts had dropped, it would have helped the score along. That didn't happen, and as I said I drove it badly and put myself into that position. I played nicely the last six holes, so hopefully I can move on from that," said Harrington, who is making just his second competitive appearance in six weeks after his father's death.
Singh baits them all
One of the interesting traditions of the US PGA is the previous year's champion arranges gifts for his fellow guests at the annual champions dinner.
Shaun Micheel, the 2003 winner and an avid KISS fan, gave out electric guitars to a group in which only John Daly could play . . . when David Toms won the title in 2001, he presented alligator belts to his peers . . . while Tiger Woods presented four-face clocks set to the time zones where the majors were played that year to his fellow-champions to celebrate his win in 2000.
At this year's dinner, Vijay Singh - who won at Whistling Straits a year ago -- presented the dinner guests with fishing rods and a one-year subscription to Bass Master magazine because "a lot of players love fishing".
Langer long enough
Former European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer gave a lie to the belief that you have to be long off the tee to conquer the modern courses when his eagle finish on the 18th - where he hit a driver and five-wood to four feet - gave him an opening round 68.
"I've been playing pretty good," said Langer, who has finished fifth in his last two outings, the British Open and the TPC of Europe. "I've got a lot of confidence with me . . . I don't see any reason why I should not be in contention by Sunday."
