GOLF US OPEN:FIRSTLY, LET'S get the public health warning as it pertains to Pádraig Harrington out of the way. Funnily enough, he didn't require the aid of a walking stick as he plotted his way around Pebble Beach yesterday.
Nope, tales of his demise are, it seems, premature. And, if there were those who scratched their heads at his decision to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery barely three weeks ago in such close proximity to the US Open, there’s no doubt in the player’s own mind that he did the right thing.
If not quite doing an Irish jig, something that he has been known to do on occasion, there was a degree of an all-is-well-with-the-world demeanour about him here yesterday.
“It’s responded well. I’m comfortable, and while it needs a certain amount of minding, and I have to look after it, it’s not posing any problem to me playing golf,” said Harrington, who returned to tournament play, without setting the world alight, in last week’s St Jude Classic.
He added: “I wasn’t there (in Memphis) to get my knee ready. I was there to get my shooting and my short game ready. I could have done with a week off physicality wise, but the knee held up fine. I have to have some physio, keep it iced and not overdo things.”
This has been a curious season, so far, for Harrington. The clock continues to tick away since his last win on tour – which came in the 2008 USPGA Championship – but the evidence would indicate that, despite missing the cut in the season’s first major at Augusta in April, the quest for a win isn’t all that far away.
In fact, the 38-year-old has had four top-10 finishes this season, three of them in America including a season’s best third in the WGC-CA Championship, and, as he puts it, is “pretty keen to try and get another win.”
He expanded: “It feels like it’s a long time, even though it’s really not that many events (since his win in Oakland Hills). Obviously, I haven’t won any sort of regular events either, but at times I can be distracted at those and maybe focusing my goals elsewhere. But, certainly, a win would be nice. It would be great if it’s this week. But ay win would be nice. It’s kind of overdue at this stage, yes.”
Yesterday, on a cool day with the wind coming in off the Pacific on to this links on the Monterey peninsula, Harrington felt very much at home. “At the moment, this is kind of like Irish weather. It’s very pleasant,” he remarked.
In fact, Harrington – who limited his practice to nine holes yesterday where he was accompanied by the teenage Waterford amateur Kevin Phelan who came through US sectional qualifying – was unprepared for such cool climes and had made contact with Kartel, his clothing sponsor, to FedEx some extra sweaters out to him.
Harrington’s preparations this week are at variance to the headless chicken approach he had on his last visit here in 2000, when he finished a distant fifth behind runaway winner Tiger Woods.
“I was running around like a lunatic, trying to squeeze everything in,” he remarked. This time, in marked contrast, the Dubliner has a more measured preparation which involved playing 13 holes on Monday – missing out on those from nine to 13 – yesterday’s nine yesterday with another nine planned for today.
That’s it, no mad cramming on the course for the toughest examination in the game. For sure, he’s impressed with how the course has been set up. “It is a fair set-up. If you don’t like it, there is no point in being here, basically.
“Does it suit my game? As much as any other week, yes. Am I capable of winning? Yes. I’ve no problem with that. I’ve probably shown better form coming into this major than I have any of the three I’ve won.
“It takes a lot to win a major tournament. It’s not as easy as just shaking your fingers or anything. I’ve probably played a little better on the range than on the course but I’ve shown enough form in a number of tournaments that, yeah, it could take place this week. But it does need to kick into place.
“It’s not like I’m carrying in unbelievable form. I’m looking for something to fall into place and to get me across the line . . . . sometimes you come into a major where you are trying to hold onto your form and avoid burnout. I am not in that situation, which sometimes is a nice way to be.”
