Harrington to take on Augusta his own way
BY now, it has been pretty well established that Pádraig Harrington loves doing things the hard way.
The tougher the challenge, the bigger the prize, the more formidable his opponents — it all helps the process of bringing out his best and that approach has, after all, brought him three major championships and made Harrington Ireland’s most successful sportsman.
There is, in his mind, no greater challenge than Augusta National and after two disappointing trips to the Masters in a row, Harrington is in the business of looking ahead to a more rewarding trip up Magnolia Drive next week for his 11th campaign to don a coveted Green Jacket.
So as he sits in a room named in his honour at his home club Stackstown and surrounded by a newly assembled collection of memorabilia of his fantastic achievements throughout his golfing career, it is clear that there is no room for negative thoughts.
Like in 2009, when a dose of outrageous misfortune derailed his bid for a third successive major win as he was penalised after a gust of wind moved his ball on the 15th green after he had addressed his putt.
Or last year when Harrington’s shot at glory was over by Friday night.
The intention of this journalist was to ascertain whether those setbacks had altered his view of Augusta but it took some time getting there.
“What happened in ‘09, I’ve no idea. I can’t remember either (year), what happened?” was Harrington’s response, followed, when reminded, by an interesting but tangential account of the effects that penalty has had on his putting.
“But that’s just an aside,” he concluded. As with all deep thinking people, we finally get to the nub of the matter.
“I love the golf course. I find the golf course intimidating, it’s probably the most intimidating tournament course we play. There are very few shots on that golf course that you aren’t under a lot of pressure — you’ve tight lies, chipping against the grain, you just have to be perfect.
“The easier or less pressurised the golf course, it gives more chances to other people. I prefer the conditions that I get at Augusta.”
Harrington’s Masters record, before 2009, is respectable indeed, with only two other missed cuts in 11 years and three top-10 finishes. After undergoing a major rethink on his swing in the wake of his three major victories in 07-08, the Dubliner is very much in a positive frame of mind.
“I don’t have a problem convincing myself (he is suited to Augusta). I think sometimes I might be too over-awed by it. But if you take the attitude that everyone else must be thinking that, and that these conditions — fast greens, difficult chip shots, imagination — all those elements suit my game, so as much as I’m finding it difficult I’ve got to take the opinion that other guys are finding it even tougher.
“I’ve been there a couple of times where I’ve had some chances coming home so I do understand that I can get myself in contention and once you’re in contention you have to play the golf or get the odd break.”
Harrington counters the notion that there is a danger of showing Augusta too much respect.
“No,” he replied, “but you’d like to show it a little less fear. It’s not a question of selecting shots, I’m not laying up or defensive, but there’s a lot of danger on every shot.
“I don’t think there is a hole you actually stand on and relax, and say, ‘this is great’. Even the birdie holes can be turned into bogey holes pretty quickly.
“I don’t think I give it too much respect but I definitely would like to play with a little bit more freedom, which I don’t know is possible, or maybe I don’t need to, either.
“I haven’t been too far away a couple of times, so play the same way as that and make it happen.”
Getting to the place where Harrington can make it happen, by being in contention at the turn on a Sunday afternoon, is very much the Irishman’s modus operandi and nowhere requires that staying power more than Augusta.
“Very much so. Have you ever seen anyone run away with it at Augusta? Well, once, sorry!” he said, remembering Tiger Woods’ tour de force in winning his first of four Masters titles by 12 strokes in 1997.
“You see a guy shoot a good score the first day, nobody’s starting to panic. Okay, most people got it wrong in ‘97, but besides that — actually I don’t know what he scored the first day (a 70, three shots back of 18-hole leader John Huston in fourth place). But in general it’s going to come down to a few players with a chance coming down the stretch, and you just have to be one of those guys and see what happens in that situation.”
Harrington, who won the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia last October for his first win since the 2008 US PGA at Oakland Hills, says he has never been happier with his game than now and whether that is just the power of positive thinking or not, the Dubliner insists he is in much better shape now to win a Masters than he was during that golden spell when he was chasing the so-called “Paddy Slam” in 2008/09.
“I would be far more confident than I was then. It’s not that I don’t hit bad shots and it’s certainly not that I won’t hit plenty of them going forward, but there is certain peace of mind to understanding it.
“I’m a better player than I was when I won the three majors.”
