Harrington's banana skin dents order of merit hopes
It is all to easy to recall how Harrington threw away the Benson & Hedges International at The Belfry in 2000 because of the card signing fiasco. That cost him stg£166,000 and world ranking and order of merit points.
Less memorable but also extremely expensive were the penalty shots he incurred for moving his ball at address on the 16th fairway during last year's Singapore Masters, where he eventually finished fifth. The same fate befell him at the 9th during the second round of the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 when he also went on to finish fifth.
Yesterday's howler at the very first hole now ranks high among the Dubliner's list of mishaps, even though the imposition of a two-stroke penalty for the decidedly minor infringement of repairing a pitch mark off the putting surface seems outrageously severe. In contrast to his playing partner and order of merit title rival Retief Goosen who stormed past the media snapping "I must get to the practice range before it gets dark", Harrington explained what happened with honesty and good humour.
"I fixed a pitch mark on the left side of the green which was in the shade but as I dug it up, there seemed to be a little more grass than you'd expect and a little bell went off in my head telling me this isn't good," he said.
"I knew the rule and knew it was a two shot penalty. It was the perfect spot for me to chip to. Because I thought it was on the green, I felt I'd fix it. Nobody else saw it but I knew straightaway. I tried to forget about it and I had a lot of other things to worry about going through the round. Obviously, it wasn't the start I wanted, you don't want to give away two shots for no reason at all which is what I did".
Harrington then demonstrated he hadn't lost his sense of humour even though his three over par round of 74 leaves him a massive 11 shots off the scorching pace set by the Argentinian Angel Cabrera. He observed with a chuckle: "I'm not that good yet that I can give two shots to the field. Seriously, I'm very aware of the rules. It's a double-edged sword. When you know the rules as well as I do, you can gain advantages while it can penalise you at other times."
Some will agree that what Harrington allowed to happen was unfortunate. Others will say it was unpardonable. Either way, it's a strange game that penalises a player two strokes for repairing a pitch mark off the green while it's perfectly okay to do so when it's on the putting surface.
Not alone did Harrington finish the day 11 adrift of Cabrera, who in turn is four ahead of the resurgent Welshman Philip Price in second spot, but he also wound up a stroke behind Retief Goosen as the pair went head-to-head in the battle for the order of merit title. The lead is currently held by the South African by the relatively small margin of 23,019 73-74 was a very disappointing return from the pair and in truth their match hardly ever rose above the mediocre.
At least they don't go out together tomorrow and that should help their respective levels of concentration. Harrington is back in a share of 42nd spot and will be partnered by the Englishman John Bickerton. They tee off at 9.20 am Irish time while Goosen, who is tied for 34th, teams up with the Australian David Gleeson at 9.43am.
Harrington compounded his first hole problems at the long 4th where he pulled his drive into the woods. After playing a poor recovery he admonished himself with "I don't know what I'm doing, I have to concentrate". He couldn't settle, not even when a five footer found the cup for a birdie at the 5th. He fluffed a nine iron approach to the 9th to return to three over par against the level par of Goosen. However, Goosen ran up a seven at the long 11th which meant a three shot swing in the Irishman's favour after he hit two immaculate shots into the middle of the green. Things really began to look up when Harrington rolled in a 15-footer for a birdie at the 14th where the South African took a bogey. Suddenly, Harrington was two in front but it was a lead that vanished as quickly as it arrived.
A pulled approach cost a three putt bogey at the 14th and then Goosen drilled an immaculate five iron to four feet for a two at the 15th. All square again. The treacherous 17th caught out a number of players again yesterday and Harrington also stumbled when he pulled his five wood approach into the water hazard and ran up an ugly seven. He did well to roll in a 12-footer for birdie on the 18th having driven into the trees.
"I wasn't fighting my swing, indeed I was happy with how I was hitting the ball," he claimed. "But I was fighting my concentration. I was very tentative on the greens and that showed in my whole game. I left an awful lot of putts short and even those getting to the hole weren't hit with any great authority. I wasn't rolling the ball at the hole. It's a tough golf course, you've got to commit to your shots and if you're tentative, you'll suffer.
"Playing with Retief in the circumstances was a bit of a distraction. I've no idea what was going on in his head. Retief's very focused He likes to keep going by himself, I'm the opposite, I like to chat, so I talk to Dave, my caddy, and Retief does his own thing. We did have a few chats, once about motor cars. He put his arm around my shoulder at the end and that showed there was a good atmosphere between us."
Young Graeme McDowell emerged as best of the four strong Irish contingent when he birdied three of the last five for a one over par 72. Darren Clarke, managed only two birdies in a 73 but Paul McGinley's travails continue unchecked as he soared to a 76.
*First round details in Digest, Page 25.
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