Is tweaking finally complete for Tour’s Tinkerman Pádraig?
Harrington chipped in for eagle at his penultimate hole after earlier snatching five birdies in a seven under par 65 to end the day in second place on the National Golf Club course in Abu Dhabi.
The Dubliner had actually held the lead for much of the day in the UAE capital before in-form South African Charl Schwartzel posted an eight-under par 64.
The in-from Schwartzel teed up in Abu Dhabi just four days after successfully defending his JoBurg Open title, and the pint-sized Springbok golfer will be looking to make it two wins in a row.
Three players — Graeme McDowell and the Swedish pair of Niclas Fasth and Alex Noren — are next best after shooting 66s.
McDowell had a scare after his round over the possibility he had moved his ball at address but a check of the video cleared the US Open champ of any wrongdoing.
Harrington revealed he couldn’t wait to get his 16th season under way so much so he was “jumping around his room” well before tee off at 7.50am local time.
“I was nervous coming to the course today and I’m thinking, first round of the year, is the game going to be there, what am I going to shoot?” he said.
“And it’s a great feeling. It’s exactly where you want to be. I got up at 4.45am today and it might as well been in the middle of the day as I was jumping around the room. That’s a sign that I’m ready to go.”
Harrington hasn’t played since ending in a share of seventh in the NedBank Challenge at Sun City in South Africa on December 5.
However in the intervening 45 days, Harrington introduced about as many changes into his game (see panel). It is little wonder Harrington was immediately asked how then did he win three Majors.
“At the end of the day, if I focus, I hit a good shot, and if don’t focus, I hit a bad shot,” he said. “All of these changes are to help me hit a decent shot when I don’t focus.
“I suppose some people would say it’s a funny way of looking at it, but you always want to get better.
“I was World No. 3 when I won three Majors and I don’t think I would get to World No. 1 if I didn’t want to improve.
“A lot of this work is coming from two, three years prior to me winning the Majors, so I just haven’t been able to really get to grips with it. But I do feel like it’s coming around now.”
McDowell was addressing his third shot from the middle of the fairway at the last when his ball seemed to roll forward slightly.
Tour chief referee, Andy McFee, suggested he not sign his card until TV footage of the incident was studied. “Andy McFee had a look at it on TV, and he was happy the ball had only oscillated,” said McDowell. “I was very happy that I wasn’t in any infringement there.”
