If Pádraig Harrington is to defend his US Senior Open title, he’ll need to do it the hard way. An error-strewn opening round of three-over-par 74 left the Dubliner facing an uphill battle to, firstly, survive the cut and, then, to attempt to play catch-up as Australian Rod Pampling claimed the clubhouse lead with a 68 at SentryWorld resort in Wisconsin.
For Harrington, just days after successfully defending his Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on the Champions Tour, it proved to be an erratic day off the tee – twice finding hazards – in a round of three birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey.
“I certainly got the best I could have out of the day. I had one of those days you get the odd time. Doesn’t your mother always tell you you’re going to have days like that, like this?” said Harrington.
“My mind was jumping about places. I was never right. From the word ‘go’ I was never comfortable. My mind was racing ... usually don’t get it two days in a row, so let’s hope we get better the next three days. I did really well not to do a lot of damage today.
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“You know what? Winning last week takes a lot out of you [and playing the] US Open the week before, as well. I’m trying to recover for this, and I know even more so now I’ll be going to [see] Indiana Jones this afternoon. That’s my plan. It won’t be the range, right?” said Harrington, of hoping some movie time might enable him to re-energise.
Darren Clarke, playing in the same group as Harrington, found the going even tougher. The Northern Irishman got off to a strong start with back-to-back birdies on his fourth and fifth holes (the 13th and 14th, after starting on the 10th) but then hit speed bump after speed bump for the rest of the journey as he signed for a 75.
“It’s really playing like a US Open. It’s really playing where you’ve got to kind of hit shots where you’re going for the perfect miss,” admitted Ernie Els of the tough USGA set-up, after the South African opened with a 70 to trail Pampling by two strokes.
Pampling’s only win on the seniors circuit came in the 2021 Boeing Classic but the 53-year-old claimed he had been playing well of late and preached patience to his caddie in believing it was only a matter of time before he struck form, especially on the greens.
“On the whole, I putted it really well, which was nice to see the balls going in. It’s nice to get a good view of the greens and can pick the breaks early on,” said Pampling.
In the British Masters at the Belfry, it also proved to be a tough opening round for the two Irish players in the field as Tom McKibbin and John Muprhy each signed for 75s to lie in tied-119th, 10 shots adrift of first-round leader Justin Rose.
A former winner and host of the tournament, tasting victory at Woburn in 2002 and hosting at Walton Heath in 2018, Rose carded eight birdies on the Brabazon Course at to lead by one stroke from 2014 Ryder Cup team-mate Jamie Donaldson.
“I felt very comfortable with my game from the first shot, really. Hit a beautiful little wedge into the 10th hole. Got off to a good start, nice birdie there, and I actually think that’s probably the best, cleanest round of golf I’ve played in a long, long time, probably even this year, as well as I have been playing,” said Rose, who won the Pebble Beach pro-am on the PGA Tour earlier this year.
