Week off does trick for Harry

Pádraig Harrington is confident he will be fit, fresh and ready to go for the British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in a fortnight after making the most of a much-needed week off following the Irish Open.

Harrington’s seventh place at Royal Portrush last Sunday brought to a close four weeks in a row of tournament play across two continents that also included a gruelling but rewarding four rounds at San Francisco’s Olympic Club at the US Open.

Three-time Major winner Harrington also played the St Jude Classic in Memphis and Travelers Championship in Connecticut either side of Olympic and will tune up for a third British Open title bid at Lytham by playing next week’s Aberdeen Assets Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.

Understandably, the Irishman is grateful to have downed tools for just a short while this week.

“I’m in the middle of this [break] and I do a lot of different measurements to tell how my body is and how well it’s recovered,” Harrington said yesterday.

“I was tired after the US Open and very tired early in the week at The Travelers but was absolutely perfect all week at the Irish Open.

“Since I came home from the Irish Open I have struggled.

“I’ve been eating all around me which is another sign I’m tired. So it’s been interesting.

“I feel by the end of this week I should be well recovered so I can go forward next week.”

* German Marcel Siem took over at the top at the Alstom French Open in Paris and had his title hopes boosted by a dramatic collapse from world No 3 Lee Westwood.

When Westwood chipped in at the 10th just after an 80-minute thunderstorm delay he was in a tie for third place.

But he took penalty drops on three of the next five holes — once from heavy rough and twice from water — in dropping five shots.

Westwood did come back with a birdie on the short 16th, but a two-over-par 73 left him seven adrift of Siem.

Winner of the World Cup with Bernhard Langer in 2006, Siem has had only one European Tour victory in approaching 300 starts.

But only a fortnight after going close on home soil at the BMW International Open, back-to-back 68s put the 31-year-old in the driving seat heading into the weekend.

British Open champion Darren Clarke, on the other hand, looked to have paid a huge price for one nightmare hole — a quadruple-bogey eight at the seventh, his third last hole.

That looked to have consigned Clarke to yet another missed cut on four over. The 43-year-old, playing his last tournament before he defends the Claret Jug in a fortnight, had been in 20th place as he stood on the tee.

But his second shot found gorse and after taking a penalty drop he went into a bunker, came out short of the green and took three more from there. Clarke dropped another stroke on the next, but his 76 was still four better than playing partner Paul Casey.