Harrington finally concedes ‘it’s time for change’

WHEN Pádraig Harrington admitted after missing his fifth cut of the year at Killarney yesterday that “change is required”, the key men in his backroom team such as coach Bob Torrance, caddie Ronan Flood and sports psychologist Bob Rotella might have felt they had good cause to worry.

However, when it came to explaining exactly what he meant by “change”, Pádraig was far from explicit, except to stress that the personnel closest to him would remain very much the same. Harrington claimed he was “doing everything that I would have done that won me three majors” but added: “a spark is needed, something fresh is needed, doing the same old things every day worked before but it does need something new.”

It’s not difficult to see why Harrington is thinking in that vein. Just look at his results this season: Abu Dhabi (disqualified), Champions Bahrain (58th), Pebble Beach Pro-Am (68th), Los Angeles Open (55th), WGC Accenture World Match Play (33rd), WGC Cadillac World Championship (10th), Transition tournament (MC), Houston Open (8th), Masters (MC), China Open (MC), Quail Hollow (9th), Players Championship (MC), St Jude Classic (MC), US Open (45th), Scottish Open (14th), British Open (MC), Irish Open (MC).