Harrington on a high after hot putting streak
While Tiger Woods, chasing a third successive victory in the event and being paid a reported two million dollars to appear, began with a bogey-free 69, Goosen and Harrington kicked off with 65s.
Harrington was paired with Woods and although the world No 1 watched a wonderful putting display, the Dubliner afterwards admitted it had nothing to do with his ability to read greens.
"It got to the stage that I didn't even bother reading them," said Harrington. It didn't make a huge difference whether I read them well or read them badly, hit them well or hit them badly. They were still going to go in. Golf's a strange game."
Woods commented: "Paddy putted beautifully. He made two long bombs and everything else he needed to make."
Harrington achieved his score despite 'really struggling off the tee big-time,' adding: "I hardly hit a fairway and my confidence was very low, but I played to my strengths. I did all the work with the wedges and putter."
The bizarre thing about his performance was that it came only four days after he could not sink a putt a thing for love nor money in the final round of the Benson and Hedges International Open on the far superior greens of The Belfry.
Harrington ended up with the 19th runners-up finish of his career there, but now has his sights firmly set again on his eighth win.
His last success came when he beat Woods to the million-dollar top cheque at the Target World Challenge in California in December and Woods has not been blind to the dramatic improvement in Pádraig's game over the last couple of seasons.
"I think he's more consistent than he used to be," he stated. "His bad shots aren't as bad as they used to be. He's made a good job of that. He has a narrow dispersion pattern and that's because he's worked so hard with his coach Bob (Torrance)."
Woods refused to blame the Gut Kaden greens for the fact he trailed Harrington by four strokes.
"You just try and get good speed on the ball, hit a solid putt, and if it bucks off line then you have to put up with it," he said. "If you feel you hit a good putt then you have to be satisfied with it."
The players were warned last week that all 18 Gut Kaden greens were suffering from a fungus called Fusarium Patch, but Woods was more concerned about the strong winds.
"I'm happy to be in the mix with a 69," he said. "You just want to shoot something under par on a tough day when the wind's howling. I hit a couple of weird numbers out there.
"But as far as the greens went, they are actually faster than the ones I've been playing at my home course (Isleworth, Orlando) where they've been working on them. They're real slow."
Meanwhile Darren Clarke rolled up his trousers and played his third shot from the edge of a lake at the par-five sixth on his way to an opening round of five-under-par 67.
Clarke, three under at the time, opted to stand in the water hazard in a bid to salvage his par at the 539-yard hole his 15th.
The move paid off and he then picked up two more shots after that to finish in early second place, two behind Harrington.
"It (the ball) was half submerged and, if there is an opportunity to have a go at it, I'm certainly not afraid of getting wet," Clarke said. "I had a dig at it and it went on to the green. But I could imagine the chuckles if I had fallen over and I was more concerned about what people would say than my shot!"
The Dungannon man, who has twice finished second in the event, reeled off five birdies in his last seven holes after being given a putting tip by close friend and management stablemate Lee Westwood.
"I kept giving myself opportunities but missed them all and got very frustrated on the front nine nothing was going in," said Clarke, who was second to Westwood in the tournament in 1998 and second to Bernhard Langer in 1995 at Gut Kaden.
"But things went my way on the back nine. Lee took some time out and gave me a lesson. He told me my left shoulder was moving out of the way too much and I practised, went back to my hotel...went on their putting green for an hour and a half last night, and did the same again this morning," Clarke added.
Goosen raced to the turn in 31, then added further birdies at the 12th and 15th before scrambling a closing par. He hooked his drive into something of a bog and felt lucky to find it, but hit a seven-iron just short of the green and chipped to three feet.
Having become a father for the first time in March, the South African has played only five Order of Merit events so far, but he said: "There are a lot of big money events to come and I definitely want to give myself a chance of winning it again.
"You always want to try and defend any title and the Order of Merit is the toughest one."
Colin Montgomerie, beaten in a play-off by Woods in Heidelberg last year, also returned a 69, while last week's winner Paul Casey and Nick Faldo were among those to finish two under, as did Scot Raymond Russell, who holed-in-one at the 184-yard 14th.
However, Ryder Cup Welshman Phillip Price retired after 14 holes feeling unwell. He was three over at the time.
*Seville will host golf's World Cup in 2004. The long-running event which pits pairs from the top 24 countries will be held at the Jose Maria Olazabal-designed Real Club de Golf de Seville on November 18-21.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
