Eagle helps Pádraig turn back clock

Pádraig Harrington carded his best round at the Masters in four years after rediscovering his putting form at Augusta National last night.

Ireland’s three-time Major champion had missed the cut on his previous two visits and had not broken par in the Masters since the first round of the 2009 tournament, when his opening 69 was followed by three one-over-par rounds of 73.

Harrington though, put himself back into the reckoning yesterday with a one-under 71, kick-started by an eagle three at the par-five second hole.

On a warm morning in Georgia that followed a first night all week without thunderstorms, the Irishman also registered two birdies and three bogeys as well as making important par saves at the ninth, 14th and 17th.

“Yes, 71 is always a decent start in a Major,” Harrington said. “Any time you’re shooting under par in a Major tournament you’re never going to have a problem with it. It’s proven to be a little bit better than maybe I’d have expected but we’ll accept that.

“I liked what I saw. The parts of my game that weren’t so good have been good of late, it was nice to see my putting was nice. Besides [the bogey at 11] all the rest of it was quite decent. I fired at a lot of pin positions because I felt good with my irons and, yeah, overall pretty solid.”

Harrington’s effort yesterday constituted only his third under-par start to the Masters in 13 starts and he was grateful to have given himself some wiggle room with that eagle at the par-five second.

“That was something in the bank,” he said. “I made a couple of bogeys after that, but I was never over par and always thought I was going to shoot under par today after that. So it was a good start to the round to get the piece of crystal in early.”

Aside from winning his second piece of cut glass — all eagles at the Masters earn players a pair of crystal goblets — having won the par three event on Wednesday, Harrington was especially pleased with his improved putting performance.

“It looks like I turned a little bit of a corner with the putting,” he added.