Preparations taking shape for upbeat Harrington

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is convinced the next three days of the Vivendi Cup will do him “no end of good” as he finalises his preparations for the Ryder Cup in Celtic Manor.

Harrington grabbed seven birdies and yet still found himself seven shots off the lead after the opening day of the tournament. The Dubliner signed for a four under par 68 but an hour later Swede Johan Edfors completed a 61 which equalled the low round of the European Tour season and knocked two strokes off his best score on the circuit.

It gave him a two-shot lead over England’s David Dixon, while the scoring was such that Harrington did not even make the top 20. He was three under after six, but mixed three bogeys with his four other birdies.