Pádraig putting things right
Harrington coped with the very hot conditions and recorded four birdies, two bogeys and 30 putts on the TPC Avondale course.
“My new alignment on the greens is nothing revolutionary or anything but at least it lasted the round,” he said.
“I didn’t putt that well but at least I am happy trying something new.
“Overall I didn’t get myself into any trouble today and while I didn’t drive it particularly straight I hit a lot of greens, so I gave myself a lot of chances.
“However it would have been good to birdie the last as three under par would have been a better reward.”
Meanwhile, 24-year old American star Rickie Fowler is in full agreement with Rory McIlroy’s comments from the recent Shell Houston Open that golf’s 20-something brigade need to create a new world order in golf.
“I definitely agree with Rory that all the players in that group he’s talking about he and I, and guys like Billy Horshell and Jordan, because we are good enough to be up there and in contention every week,” said Fowler before teeing off in New Orleans.
“So I feel like Rory that collectively we can make our presence a little more known.”
And likely USA Ryder Cup rookie Patrick Reed is also singing the praise of the absent double Major winning McIlroy.
The 23-year old Reed played alongside McIlroy during the Texan’s WGC–Cadillac Championship success and despite Reed coming in for criticism for his ‘I’m top-five in the world’ remarks, the soon-to-be new father was very complimentary of McIlroy.
“What I like about Rory is that he really thinks his way around a golf course and sticks to his game plan,” said Reed.
“He hits a lot of high draws, a lot of those knuckle high draws where he’s figured out a way to hit those shots.
“So he plays in his comfort zone and that’s what I like to do but then if I get myself in trouble I try to do too much, so I need to be more like Rory and stick with what I have.
“I learned a lot from playing alongside him that week. He’s also such a great guy and I was able to pick his brain a lot that weekend.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him again at all the Majors this year and hopefully at the Ryder Cup.”
McIlroy is due to return to competition at next week’s Wells Fargo Championship and the venue in 2010 of his breakthrough success on the PGA Tour.
lWorld number one Tiger Woods is taking a long-term view of his return to action and is thinking about “the next 10 or 15 years, not the next 10 weeks”, according to his agent.
The 14-time Major winner missed this month’s Masters for the first time in 20 years after undergoing surgery to correct a problem with a pinched nerve in his back on March 31.
No time scale has been put on his recovery and the American’s representative Mark Steinberg could only say he would return at some point this summer.
“He’s doing a little bit more and more each day,” Steinberg said.
“He’s getting to the point of light chipping and putting and the doctors and trainers seem to be pleased with where he is.
“He is on schedule but we don’t know what that schedule means. I don’t know when he intends to be playing competitively but I expect it to be this summer.
“I know that’s a wide range but as the weeks go by we’ll be able to pinpoint an approximate time. It’s still a little early for that.
“I’ve seen a very responsible approach (from Woods) to getting back. This is about the next 10 or 15 years, this is not about the next 10 weeks.
“This is not about targeting any specific tournament. If he needs to wait one or two or three extra weeks he will. He’s thinking about this very, very long term.”
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