Short and sweet for Harrington
A three under par 68 on a day – when the wind at this superbly conditioned links on the edge of the Irish Sea amounted to little more than a zephyr – was nothing exceptional and indeed Harrington ended the day a stroke behind Leslie Walker, the 40-year-old professional at Dundalk, who returned a blemish-less 67. Nine players finished under the par of 71.
However, the Open champion came here with two key targets in mind – to reacquaint himself with links golf and to acquire some badly needed confidence and self belief after missing five cuts in a row. While he was thrilled with the improvement in his chipping and putting, he wasn’t getting ahead of himself where his overall ball striking was concerned and is looking for gradual improvement over the next three days so that he can set off on Sunday for Turnberry and the defence of his Open Championship in a more relaxed and focused state of mind.
“I didn’t play anything as well as I did last week but I putted a lot better and that’s a big plus,” said Harrington. “If I putted like I have all year, that would have been a 73 or 74.”
Harrington spent much of last weekend practising at Le Club National in Paris after missing his fifth successive cut in the French Open, concentrating mainly on his short game, and it appeared to pay a rich dividend through yesterday’s opening nine holes where he needed only 12 putts. He missed from 12 feet for a birdie at the first but holed from the same distance for a birdie three at the next before splashing out of a bunker to six feet at the long third and holing for a second successive gain.
His tee shot to the next ended in thick rough to the right but he saved par from 20 feet. He was fortunate at the short sixth when his tee shot finished inside the hazard line to the left of the green but just stayed out of the water and he was able to chip dead for his par. He left the driver in the bag throughout the front nine, a strategy easy to accommodate in the benign conditions, but it still wasn’t plain sailing and he had six single putts through the first nine holes.
Nevertheless, two under 33 to the turn was satisfactory after all the trials of recent times. Further birdies came at the 11th (five wood, six iron to six feet) and at the 14th before providing a classic example of the improved state of his short game at the 17th.
He pulled his tee shot into thick rough on the left and made matters a whole lot worse by knocking his attempted recovery into worse trouble. After taking a penalty drop, he was still in knee high stuff, had 114 yards to the flag and was facing double bogey or even worse. Somehow, though, he managed to wedge the fourth to 18 feet and rolled in the putt for what he rightly regarded as a great bogey.
“All year, any shot I’ve missed ended up with me taking bogey or worse because I haven’t been holing putts,” he said. “Never have I learned more over the past six months just how important is putting.”
In contrast to Harrington, who only once used his driver over the whole 18 holes, Leslie Walker wielded it on six occasions and managed to keep the ball in play to such effect that he didn’t run up a single bogey. As for the course’s suitability for preparing for the Open, he enthused: “It’s perfect for Pádraig because you have to use your brain around here, you can’t power it around the place. You must pick your spots on the greens and judge the spin on the second shots.”
Waterville’s David Higgins, who came through Open qualifying so impressively at Glasgow Gailes on Monday and Tuesday before rushing to the European Club, is the only other player in the field headed for Turnberry. He could have been knocked out of his stride by a triple bogey seven at the eighth but after turning in 40, he came back in 36 to remain in contention for a solid finish.
Tipperary’s Marian Riordan made history by becoming the first female to play in the championship and she shot a very respectable round of 80 that leaves her with a decent chance of surviving the halfway cut.
“I missed a couple of fairways by a few feet and that cost me a couple of double bogeys,” she reported. “I played quite nicely but this is a very tough golf course and I was a bit nervous out there and hope to be less so in the second round.”
The links proved too much for a number of the 120-strong field and horror stories abounded. Paul Vaughan from Ardglass had a 13 at the par five 13th before signing for an 88. Graham Byrne from PGA National took nine at the short second and 11 at the ninth in an outward 51 before coming home in 10 shots less.
