Harrington: I’m turning the corner

THERE were no tears, no locked doors and no trip to the rehab clinic, but those nearest and dearest to Pádraig Harrington have staged an intervention for the three-time major winner.

Harrington, by his own admission, has become addicted to perfecting the mechanics of his golf swing and the price has been paid with poor results in tournaments so far in 2009.

Three missed cuts in 11 starts this year and just one top-10 finish, a tie for fifth at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, are the extremes of the reigning Open and US PGA champion’s season to date.

Yet while as recently as Tuesday here at The Players Championship, the Irishman was speaking of his preparedness to go backwards for a spell in order to become an even better player than he was last year as he took back-to-back majors, his closest and most trusted advisers were telling him to abandon the search for swing perfection and return to the things he does best.

Harrington described how his wife Caroline, his caddie Ronan Flood and sports psychologist Bob Rotella all spoke to him this week and told him enough was enough.

“I had a long chat with Bob and Ronan last night, it was nearly like an intervention,” Harrington said with a laugh.

“I think I got the first questioning from my wife on Monday. I got the second lecture from Ronan on Tuesday night. I think we had dinner for about an hour and we never said a word; and I got the third one from Bob Rotella last night.

“The message was ‘just get back to golf and stop being so addicted to your golf swing’.”

Harrington was already talking like a man with a weight lifted from his shoulders having shot a second successive 72 at TPC Sawgrass that left him just on the right side of the projected cut line at level par.

“It was a much better day,” he said, “I did a lot of good things out there and was quite pleased.

“I’m definitely turning the corner, let’s say.

“I’m starting to focus on my strengths and what I’m good at and not too obsessive about my swing.

“I can get a bit obsessive and today I played with a bit more freedom.”

The Dubliner was also careful not to short-change the experience of his “intervention”.

“In the context of my career it would be significant.

“I’ve gone down this road before, I will go down it again, that’s the nature of the game. I kind of get stuck into things and then get very obsessive about it.

“I’m happy that I’ve done it but it’s time to get back to playing golf.

“I have definitely become addicted to my golf swing over the last couple of months and I definitely need to get rid of that.

“It was a talking to and in fairness I knew it myself too. That’s what Bob is there for, that’s what Ronan’s there for. They have to point out when you’re going too far down a road.

“It’s very evident that that’s what I was doing but I’m happy I did it.

“If you don’t go trying to change things and prove things you’re always wondering and thinking.

“I have to go and do these things in order to be happy and comfortable with the rest of my game.”

Harrington said he was still a little way off ending his latest swing experiment but said he recognised the need to do so.

“It would take a few weeks to turn it around but, yes, in four weeks’ time, I intend to be fully finished with the game of swing.”

As Harrington planned ahead, Rory McIlroy was living for the weekend as he tried to make the cut following an opening, two-over-par 74.

Two bogeys in his first six holes did nothing for the 20-year-old’s cause but he got back to three over with a birdie at his seventh, the par-five 16th.

Graeme McDowell was heading into the comfort zone at one under for the week when he bogeyed the par-four 14th and was facing a nervy run-in as he approached the difficult closing stretch.

Germany’s Alex Cejka was the clubhouse leader at 11 under following a second-round 67, three shots clear of Sweden’s Richard S Johnson, who scored a birdie at the 12th to move to eight under, a distant target for all three Irishmen.