Momentum the key for crowd hero Harrington

THE thousands who turned up at Fota Island yesterday and will continue to do so in their tens of thousands over the next three days want to see nothing more than an Irish champion.

Graeme McDowell’s impressively compiled three under par 68 in the afternoon provides him with the appetising prospect of overtaking Mikko Ilonen when he sets out at 7.50am this morning aiming to put himself into a winning position. But if that man happens to be Pádraig Harrington, then that will sit very nicely with just about everyone too.

It is already perfectly clear that Harrington is the man the fans want to succeed and, quite frankly, once he had completed his round by lunchtime, the sense of atmosphere was sadly lacking.