Harrington nicely positioned

FOR 14 holes at Olympia Fields yesterday, Pádraig Harrington looked every bit the potential US Open champion.

He was standing two under par for the first round and in apparent total control of his game. He seemed to have the golf ball on a string and was oozing confidence.

However, for reasons he later attributed to "tiredness and lack of focus" he struggled over the final four holes and needed at least one enormous slice of luck to get home in one under par 69, still his lowest opener in the Championship in six starts. He accepted that he would have taken that score before setting out but was also disappointed at not capitalising on the high quality of his golf over the first fourteen.