Pádraig: Tiger can catch Jack

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON still puts his money on Tiger Woods breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 professional Majors.

Harrington played the opening two rounds of the PGA Championship with Woods, who missed the cut. Even so, the Dubliner saw him hit enough good shots to realise his game will not be gone for too long.

The Dubliner said: “I still believe when he turns up and plays well in a given week, I think he’s well capable of winning any Major he plays in. He still has a good ball flight. He still hits it well. Once he puts it together in a given week, he can win and will. … Okay, it wasn’t his week that week. But when it is his week, he will win again.”

Harrington said the difference now is that if something can go wrong with Woods on the course, it will.

Woods was atop the leaderboard through five holes of the opening round, and one tee shot into the water changed everything. He opened with a 77 and finished outside the top 100 in a Major for the first time.

Harrington said: “When you’re kind of happy with your game, you tend to get the most out of it.

“You feel like you shot 70 and you end up shooting 68. And when you’re not happy with your game, you feel like you shot 70 and you end up shooting 72.

“I experience that myself a lot. That’s kind of what I see in Tiger’s game.”