Nobody needs to tell Pádraig Harrington that the game owes you anything. The Dubliner — with 40-plus career wins in a professional career that led him to the World Golf Hall of Fame — is long enough in the tooth to know that his, or anyone’s, bid to add the Senior Open by Rolex to the CV doesn’t come with any divine right.
Runner-up in the championship for the past two years, to Darren Clarke by one stroke in 2022 and to Alex Cejka in a playoff last year, Harrington doesn’t believe there is any entitlement to make it a case of third-time lucky. It doesn’t work that way, most certainly not on a links that is one of the toughest seaside courses on the planet.
A sense of getting redemption perhaps for his playoff loss a year ago, on a course where he won the Claret Jug in 2007? “No. Not redemption. It doesn’t work like that. This is the great thing about golf. The game gives you nothing in that sense. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. You have to turn up and play 72 holes and finish it out.
“You know, you can be leading after day one, day two, day three. You can be 10 shots ahead. Nobody gives you the trophy on Saturday evening and you’ve got to play all 72 holes and you’ve got to earn it,” responded Harrington.
For sure, he’s as familiar as anyone with the links given that Open win of 2007 which pioneered a golden era for Irish players in the Majors. And, of course, Harrington has been a perennial at the Dunhill Links on the DP World Tour, winning in 2002 and 2006. He and the links go back a long way.
“Last year’s performance [at Gleneagles] or the year before [at Sunningdale] doesn’t have any bearing on this one, and especially on this golf course, Carnoustie. As much as I’ve won The Open here, it’s not like having won The Open, they give me a one-shot start or something like that. This course, there’s nothing about it that would make you sleep easy at night,” said Harrington.
“I’m very familiar with the golf course. Doesn’t mean it gets any easier. You know, this is obviously one of the toughest courses that we play in The Open rota, and you know, it’s set up well this year. The rough is nice and high, and certainly in places you really do want to be on your game playing well. It’s always the same with Carnoustie. It gives you nothing!”
Harrington, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in June, has one senior Major to his CV (the 2022 US Seniors Open) and had those two close calls in the Seniors Open the past two years.
And Harrington’s performance in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon last week, where he finished tied-22nd, would indicate a strong form guide to justify favouritism. He ranked 10th in strokes-gained tee-to-green last week but struggled with his putting (ranked 72nd).
“My putting is fine. I just didn’t hole the putts last week. I’m excited about where it is and where I’m going with my game. Doesn’t mean it falls into place this week but I have some confidence going into the rest of the summer,” said Harrington.
There are six Irish players in the field, with Harrington joined by 2022 champion Darren Clarke who also made the cut at Troon. Peter Lawrie, Paul McGinley, Mark McNulty and Cameron Clarke are also competing.
On the PGA Tour, Séamus Power — who didn’t earn an exemption to Troon — returns after a week’s break but with a lot on the line in the 3M Open in Minnesota where the Waterford player will look to consolidate his position on the FedEx Cup standings with next month’s playoffs looming. Power is 66th on the order of merit with only the top 70 making it into the St Jude Classic.
Meanwhile, Billy Horschel — runner-up to Xander Schauffele in last week’s 152nd Open — has been confirmed for the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down on September 12th-15th along with former world number one Luke Donald, who will have a second term as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for next year’s match in Bethpage, and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
“When I heard that it was going to be played at Royal County Down, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to get back to that wonderful venue. I have great memories of playing there in the Walker Cup and it will be nice to be reminded of that special week,” said Horschel, who was part of the USA’s winning Walker Cup team at Newcastle in 2007.
The Lowdown
Senior Open by Rolex
Purse: €2.5 million (€412,000 to the winner)
Where: Carnoustie, Scotland
The course: Carnoustie Links — 7,402 yards Par 72 — is also on The Open rota and features as one of three played on the annual Dunhill Links on the DP World Tour. It is viewed as one of the toughest links courses on any tour (it earned the name “Car-nasty” during the 1999 Open won by Paul Lawrie) and last staged the Senior Open in 2016 when Paul Broadhurst won. There is a very tough closing stretch, with the Par 18th — appropriately known as Home — featuring out-of-bounds to the left and the Barry Burn in play down the right and again in front of the green.
The field: As the final Major of the Champions Tour, there is a very strong field with several players — among them Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Alex Cejka — who all made the cut in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon last week. Richard Bland, a winner of two Majors already this year (the US Seniors PGA and the US Seniors Open) however, has opted to play on the LIV event in England.
Irish in the field: Six Irish players are competing for the final Major of the year: Peter Lawrie (6.55am), Paul McGinley (7.15am), Pádraig Harrington (8.00am), Darren Clarke (8.10am), Mark McNulty (2.05pm) and Cameron Clarke (3.50pm).
Betting: No surprise that Harrington is the market leader given his Claret Jug win here in 2007 and also his Dunhill Links success on the main tour, although he is tightly priced at 10/3 with Steve Alker next at 8/1 and Bernhard Langer at 12/1 there appears to be better value elsewhere with Angel Cabrera and Darren Clarke at 28/1, while a good each-way prospect is Thomas Bjorn at 33s.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf (from 12.30pm).
3M Open
Purse: €7.45 million (€1.35m to the winner)
Where: Blaine, Minnesota
The course: TPC Twin Cities — 7,431 yards par 71 — was designed by Arnold Palmer in consultation with Tom Lehman and there are numerous water features in play. The signature hole is the seventh, known as “Tom’s Thumb” for the input from the former US Ryder Cup captain and current Champions Tour player as Lehman planned for a drivable Par 4 that required a carry over the lake.
The field: With pressure on players to secure their FedEx Cup playoffs spots with time running out (only the Wyndham of the regular season in a fortnight remains), the post-Open field is a strong one and includes Billy Horschel, one of the runners-up from Royal Troon. The top-ranked player from the world rankings is number 11, Sahith Theegala.
Irish in the field: Séamus Power is the lone Irish man playing. Power is in a group alongside JJ Spaun and Ryan Brehm (off the 1st at 1.29pm Irish time). Power is 66th in the FedEx Cup standings and will be looking to consolidate that position.
Betting: Tony Finau, a winner in 2022, missed the cut at Troon last week but had three straight top-10s before that and is the market favourite at odds of 11/1 while Sam Burns will look to put his dreadful final round behind him and is rated an 18/1 chance with Akshay Bhatia at 20/1. Billy Horschel is available at 22/1 and is worth consideration given his tendency to hit streaks of form, while Nick Dunlap comes in on the back of his win in the Barracuda and looks well priced at 45/1. Defending champion Lee Hodges is available at 60/1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports Golf (from 7pm).
