Pádraig Harrington will arrive at Celtic Manor on Sunday evening with a pep in his step after his final competitive outing before the Ryder Cup saw him equal his lowest round of the year an eight-under-par 64 in Paris today.
After only just surviving the halfway cut at the Vivendi Trophy, he played his final 36 holes in 12 under for a much-needed boost to his confidence.
Harrington climbed all the way to joint eighth on 13 under, although the overnight leaders were only just starting the back nine when he made the seventh birdie of his round at the 18th. An eagle three at the long 13th was the highlight of a round which included just one bogey, which came at the fifth
The Dubliner was far from delighted with his effort and believed he could have gone lower to put himself amongst the leaders.
“I’m just a bit disappointed that I left a lot of shots out there,” said Harrington. “It’s nice to shoot a good score but certainly I could have been several better today. It would have been nice to post a score that would make the leaders have to think about it coming home.”
Harrington, who left Paris straight away for south Wales, was happy that he got the chance to iron out some problems over the weekend and believes he won’t have to work as hard as he expected to in the build-up to Friday’s opening fourball matches.
“The week before a big event is all about seeing where your game is at, seeing what needs to be worked on. Where I struggled with my putting early on in the week, I think it was quite sharp today. Definitely I don’t have as much to do from Monday to Thursday next week to get ready,” he added.
Harrington yet again played down the relevance of his performance as the controversy over Colin Montgomerie’s wild card picks rumbles on.
“In the end of the day it’s impossible to prove any point like that, everybody’s going to have their own opinions and most people will be pretty committed to their own opinion so there’s no point in me trying to prove people right or wrong,” he said.
“I’ve got to do my own thing, play my own game. It’s not something I can control so it’s best to stay away from it. I haven’t read any of the press, I never do, so it’s best to just play my game and see what happens, it’s all I can do,”
Pinpointed by Montgomerie as team leader next week, Harrington admits he can’t wait to arrive in Wales for his sixth consecutive appearance in the Ryder Cup.
Looking back on his debut at the infamous ‘Battle of Brookline’ in 1999, Harrington admitted it was a whirlwind week that he struggled to deal with.
“It’s a totally different experience, in ’99 I was a rookie and qualified very late, in the last event actually, I think I holed a putt on the last green. My head was spinning for the whole week, it’s hard to believe I can even remember it I was so excited all the way through the week.
“This time around and obviously having got a pick it’s a totally different feeling going into it. Certainly the last one I was very tired, it was tough. I fought against a lot of things that week, fought my own game and I wanted to rest more, it was an awkward week anyway.
“This time around, no, I’m heading there now, I’m getting in early, I want to do things, I’m enthusiastic, I’m ready to go. Whereas other years you come in to the Ryder Cup you’ve had a long year, this year there’s no feelings like that, I’m excited to get there.”
Asked if he had any preferences with who he is paired with, Harrington pointed to the strength of the team, while backing Montgomerie’s decision to play all 12 players on the opening day.
A smiling Harrington said: “I’ll settle for playing with any of my 11 team-mates on Friday. In fairness, it’s a very strong team, we have rookies on the team but they are some of our better players. It’s one of those teams that I’d be very happy to tee it up in on Friday.
“I know Monty said we’re all going to play on Friday so that’s nice. But you never really know with a Ryder Cup until you get out there and play the first day.
“You could play very well and play all the matches or play average and play a couple of the matches. It’s one of those things, it’s a good idea to give us all a run on the first day and see how we are bearing up to the Ryder Cup pressure and the golf course and everything else that goes with it.”