US TOUR:PEBBLE BEACH gave Irish golf one of its greatest moments last summer when Graeme McDowell lifted the US Open and now Pádraig Harrington will be hoping some of that magic rubs off on him this week.
After two events in the Middle East – one of them a controversial disqualification – Harrington starts his USPGA Tour campaign at the AT and T Pebble Beach National Pro-am.
The Dubliner, whose last success in America was his 2008 USPGA triumph, believes the time has come to concentrate more on just playing the game rather than thinking about all the changes he made prior to the season.
“I am happy with how my winter work has progressed, but it was very hard to leave it behind me when I got to the course,” he said after finishing only 58th in Bahrain two weeks ago. “As a result I definitely got caught on a number of shots where I was stuck between trying to do one thing, but still thinking about my swing changes.
“All in all I felt that the work I have done will make a big difference. That said, though, I am fully aware after these two weeks that I need to try and forget about it now and get my mind focused on playing and the scoring area of the game.
“I can see that a lot of my dropped shots were down to my lack of sharpness. In general it was my short game and decision-making with regard to my chip shots that cost me.
“The good thing about playing these two weeks is that it reminds me what I need to do. I know coming away from here that I have to spend more time on my short game, although I know that it gets better as I play more.”
Harrington, again partnering racehorse owner JP McManus, lines up against a field which includes world number four Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, winner for the past two years.
Not that Johnson will be thinking only of his two victories when he returns to the course on Saturday after first playing Monterey Peninsular and Spyglass Hill.
He led the field by three entering the final round of the US Open, then shot 82 to drop to eighth spot.
Harrington starts at Spyglass and will switch to Pebble Beach tomorrow.
The venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup – a fight between France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands – will be announced on May 17th.
It will be only the second time that the match has been staged in continental Europe after Valderrama on Spain’s Costa del Sol played host in 1997.
The official announcement, to be made at the European Tour’s Wentworth headquarters, comes at the conclusion of the first formal bid process undertaken by Ryder Cup Europe, which commenced at the end of 2008.
Richard Hills, Ryder Cup director, said: “It has been a hugely challenging and stimulating process, taking almost 18 months to complete.”
Hills added: “All five could have hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup based on the detail and quality of their bids and, although one country will be successful, we look forward to continuing our close relationships with each one of those five countries in the future.”
Bid director David MacLaren added: “At the outset we said that we wanted to make the right sporting decision and the right commercial decision.
“We then set our five key criteria against which the bids would ultimately be judged; provision of a world-class golf course, infrastructure required to deliver the Ryder Cup, government, private and golfing support, commercial opportunities for Ryder Cup Europe and the contribution of the host nation to the development of golf.”
Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Courses: Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Monterey.
Length: Pebble Beach 6,816 yards; Spyglass Hill 6,858 yards; Monterey 6,838 yards.
Par: 72, 72, 70.
Prizemoney: €4.5 million, €825,856 for the winner.
Field: 156.
Defending champion: Dustin Johnson defended title by one shot.
Time difference: California is eight hours behind Ireland.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports 3 (8pm tonight).
Weather: Sunny with no wind.
