‘I was doing handstands’: Pádraig Harrington blames overconfidence for Senior PGA setback

Pádraig Harrington gets straight back to business after narrowly missing out on the US Senior PGA Championship, where Argentinian Angel Cabrera scooped his second seniors Major in back-to-back weeks.

The Dubliner blamed overconfidence – which included a double-bogey on the 15th and a missed putt for par on the last – in his failure to get over the line at Congressional Country Club where he ultimately finished one shy of Cabrera.

Harrington – who remains on the Champions Tour for this week’s Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Idaho – was, as he put it, “doing handstands” in the final round where he covered the opening 12 holes in seven under to move two shots clear, only for his late stumble which denied him a second seniors Major (he won the US Senior Open in 2022).

“It’s always plagued me my whole life since I’ve been a kid. Just get over confident and just don’t [commit fully],” explained Harrington of a hooked 5-wood tee shot to the 15th which lead to a costly double bogey and halted his momentum.

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“I’m much better off in with nerves and tension,” said Harrington, adding: “If you start off with doubt, when you feel doubt over the ball it doesn’t feel so bad. If you start off confident then you feel doubt it’s like a blow-up. I was just too confident. It happens,” said Harrington, who won $264,00 for sharing runner-up with Thomas Bjorn.

Rory McIlroy skips Memorial tournament on PGA Tour

No Rory McIlroy this week at the Memorial tournament, the latest of the $20 million signature events on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy has opted to skip the Jack Nicklaus-hosted tournament at Muirfield Village – where he has played 13 times, with a best finish of tied-fourth in 2016 – and, instead, will return to action at the RBC Canada Open next week ahead of the following week’s US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh.

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Shane Lowry is the sole Irish player in the field at the Memorial, while Leona Maguire is the only Irish player in the field for the US Women’s Open, the second Major of the year on the LPGA Tour, which takes place at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. Maguire is looking to bounce back from a missed cut in the Mexico Open.

Conor Purcell – who finished tied-49th in the Soudal Open – is also the only Irish player in the field in this week’s tour stop on the DP World Tour, the Austrian Open.

Word of Mouth

Ben Griffin at Colonial. Photograph: Raj Mehta/Getty

“It’s crazy how fast things can change in this game. Even going back to when I didn’t have any status on any sort of tours, getting on to the Korn Ferry Tour. I mean, it’s a bunch of stepping stones that kind of gets you to the next part of your career. Now I’m at the point where I feel like I’m starting to show that I am an elite golfer. I can compete against the best” – Ben Griffin, now a multiple winner on the PGA Tour, on turning his career around.

By the Numbers: 8

There are no fewer than eight players in the field for this week’s US Women’s Open at Erin Hills who share the same Lee surname: Australian Minjee Lee and Americans Andrea, Jude and Sophia Lee along with four South Koreans further complicated by that fact that two of them also have the same first names. Mi Hyang Lee and Ihee Lee form the quartet of Koreans along with Jeougeun Lee5 and Jeougeun Lee6, the addition of the numbers at the end of their respective surnames differentiating the two players.

On this day ... May 27th, 1979

Tom Watson donned winter wooly headgear and dressed as if for an Arctic expedition in battling his way to victory in the Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, for his 17th career win on the PGA Tour.

A cold front hung around the area through the tournament at Jack Nicklaus’s signature design course, to the point that even the Golden Bear himself figured conditions to be “impossible” with greens reading over 17 on the stimpmeter.

“It got out of control,” admitted tournament host Nicklaus.

The 36-hole cut fell at 13-over-par and, when the time came for the handing over of the trophy some Sunday, only one man – Watson – was under par.

Watson defied the conditions with rounds of 73-69-71-71 for a three-under-par winning total of 285.

That second round 69 was considered one of the best bad weather rounds ever played on the PGA Tour, on a day where the field averaged 78.7 and 42 of the 105 starters shot 80 or worse. “I got out to a good start, and held on for dear life,” said Watson.

Social Swing

Unfortunately after failing on Monday by one shot, looks like my run of 25 consecutive US Open Championships might come to an end this year, unless a little miracle happens. Very proud of this amazing run that I had at this great Major! – Sergio Garcia now relying on a special invite from the USGA if he is to make it to the US Open at Oakmont.

Good morning everyone – former mortgage broker Ben Griffin on completing his second win of the season on the PGA Tour in adding the Charles Schwab Challenge to the Zurich Classic, his second win in five starts.

Course record First win on Tour Sundays don’t get much better @KristofferR_98 – the DP World Tour’s social media salutes Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan‘s win at the Soudal Open in Belgium, his breakthrough win on the European circuit.

Know the Rules

Q: In stroke play, a player has interference to their stance from an immovable obstruction. They determine their nearest point of complete relief using a five iron (as that is the club he would have used had the immovable obstruction not been there) and drop the ball within one club-length of that point, no nearer the hole. The ball settles down in the rough, so the player changes club and plays the ball out on to the fairway with a sand wedge. What is the ruling?

A: There is no penalty. Once the ball is dropped, it is back in play. The player must then decide what type of stroke they will make. This stroke, which includes the choice of club, may be different from the one that would have been made from the ball’s original spot had the condition not been there. (Clarification Nearest Point of Complete Relief/4).