GOLF IRISH PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: NO SOONER had Pádraig Harrington stepped out of his car in the car park of the European Club yesterday than a young fan gave him a good luck card. The gist of it was, "remember how good you are".
In the sense that every little helps, those good wishes were transferred to the links as the player regained confidence, mainly with the putter, to get into the thick of things in the Ladbrokes Irish PGA championship.
A first round 68, three under, left Harrington – in his final preparation before his bid for a third successive British Open title at Turnberry next week – just a shot adrift of Leslie Walker, a player who curbed his natural inclination to overpower the course in favour of a more measured approach that reaped dividends with a bogey-free 67.
On as calm a day as there is to be found on this majestic links by Brittas Bay, only nine players managed to submit sub-par rounds; and, with some scores edging into the 90s and a number of nines and even 11s appearing on some cards, the course – with narrow fairways and tigerish rough – retained its capacity to punish any errant shots.
So, Walker’s round of 14 pars and four birdies – with an important up and down from a greenside trap on the 16th – was hugely impressive. “The highlight of my day,” remarked Walker, the 40-year-old professional at Dundalk of that sand save.
The gloss, however, was provided by birdies on the first (three feet), third (eight feet), 13th (three feet) and 17th (where he hit a seven-iron to six feet) which enabled him to assume the first round leadership.
Yet, it was interesting to note that Walker used his driver on six occasions, in contrast to Harrington using that weapon just once, on the par five 13th.
“I don’t mind hitting driver on tight holes . . . but the course is perfectly set up to play reasonably cautiously. You’ve got to use your brain, you can’t power it out. You’ve got to pick your spots on the green.”
Given that Walker has what he describes as “a half-broken wrist” which has him attempting to swing the club more smoothly, this effort has put him in position to contend for a title that has eluded him. A former winner of the British Boys’ amateur, Walker – known for his long-hitting – has three Irish Club professional titles in his CV but not this one, as yet.
“Who knows?” Walker wondered after yesterday’s opener.
Walker held a one-stroke lead over Harrington, with Donegalman Seamus McMonagle – a 30-year-old with the confidence to wear a colourful bandana – third after producing a 69.
McMonagle had received a late call-up on Sunday to play in the British Open final qualifying but turned down the offer in order to concentrate fully on this championship.
For sure, there was no one putting the cart before the horse in their expectations. Not even Harrington, who produced his first sub-par round in competitive golf since his second round of the Irish Open at Baltray in May. Yesterday, the blade worked wonderfully well for the Dubliner, who needed just 12 putts on the front nine, including six single putts.
So, what went right? It seems that Harrington, having missed the cut in the French Open last weekend, worked out what was wrong. “I changed something. I did this last year. The first six months (of the year) I putted awful and I was only thinking about it the other day. I made the same change, a slight grip change, and I seem to be putting fine again. I’d forgot about it basically for the past six months . . . never have I learned more over those six months how important putting is.”
Yesterday, Harrington’s confidence with putter in hand was obvious. Even though the player agreed that there was no feeling of being on “automatic pilot” standing over the ball, the putter was an obedient instrument as he holed critical putts for birdies, pars and even one for a bogey – on the 17th – which, on another day, might have turned into a double or triple.
On that par four 17th, Harrington’s tee-shot held up in a clump of thick rough on the hill that runs down the left of the fairway, and his attempted recovery went further left into ferns, from where he had to take a penalty drop. However, his wedge, a blind shot over the sand hills, finished 18 feet below the flag and he rolled in the bogey putt.
“My putting and chipping kept me going,” conceded Harrington. “I didn’t play anywhere near as well as I did last week (in France), didn’t strike it as well, but I putted a lot better. That’s a big plus. All day I felt as if I was going to hole putts, and that’s a big positive.”
David Higgins, the only other player here with a ticket to Turnberry for the British Open, included a triple bogey seven at the eighth on his way to a 76.
