Harrington battles Baltray blues

THE strength in depth of the European Tour was demonstrated graphically at Baltray yesterday when 89 players finished under par in the opening round of the 3 Irish Open. But Pádraig Harrington, the pre-tournament favourite and 2007 champion, was not a member of that elite group.

The two-time major champion and eighth-ranked player in the world suffered the latest of many recent days of great disappointment and is in grave danger of missing the cut after a round of 73 that leaves him in a tie for 107th place and a massive 10 strokes behind the overnight leader, 27-year-old Italian Francesco Molinari, who set a course record of 63 on a wet and chilly but largely windless day.

It was the 10th successive round in which Harrington has failed to dip under par.