Anything that creates havoc will do Padraig Harrington

Pádraig Harrington was not getting carried away by his best round at The Open in seven years but is hoping the weather does cause “havoc” as the two-time champion bids to close the gap on the leaders at St Andrews this afternoon.

The three-time major winner, conqueror of Carnoustie and Birkdale in 2007 and 2008, shot a three-under-par 69 at the Old Course yesterday to match his best score in the championship since the first round of his unsuccessful title defence at Turnberry in 2009.

As encouraging as breaking 70 and reaching three under par was, the Irishman was expecting to have plenty of work to do this weekend.

He finished six shots behind clubhouse leader Danny Willett of England, whose own 69 moved him to nine under, while even more favourable conditions yesterday evening were likely, he felt, to send the late-starting front runners further clear. Unless.

Unless the weather gods unleash hell today and deliver Harrington the winds that would unsettle many and play into his hands.

“Anything that creates havoc will do me,” he said. “I’m way, way behind here, I’m going be a long way behind at the end of the day. The more havoc there is tomorrow, the better for me. It’s not like I’m defending anything, or I’m not leading the tournament. If I was I’d like beautiful weather. You want everything possible to be thrown at us tomorrow.”

The prospect of Harrington getting into contention once more at The Open is a tantalising one, particularly with his compatriots struggling around the Old Course and the best of them sat at home with his ankle in a cast.

Harrington will not think of that or summon the positive reinforcement of his previous victories unless he has achieved his goal of giving himself a chance by the time he arrives at the 10th tee on Sunday afternoon.

If he is in contention by then all bets are off and Harrington can take care of himself from there.

“It would be nice,” he said. “Unfortunately I’ve won two of them already, so it’s not going to be life-changing or anything like that, but it would be nice to get into contention coming down the stretch and perform.

“We’ll see what happens if that happens. It’s a long way off, no matter what I’m going to need a big weekend, a pair of 65s maybe are needed over the weekend, but who knows?

“The weather will determine quite a lot and this afternoon will determine a lot. But still, 69 is a reasonable return and certainly after being one over after six holes and not much happening for me, it was quite a good return.”

It was a slow burner of a round in every respect, his tee time delayed by an early morning downpour that waterlogged the the Old Course for more than three hours and then a front nine that saw Harrington fail to take advantage of the more benign conditions.

He had taken the delay in his stride, nipping into one of the golf equipment Tour vans that line the practice range and settling down on a vacant couch for a 90-minute snooze before resetting for his later tee time in much better conditions than for which he had been girding himself.

A short missed par putt at the second would not have been part of his dreams but Harrington climbed back into his day’s work with a birdie at the par-four seventh before his round truly came to life on the homeward nine.

He knocked a five iron close on 13 for birdie and chipped close to the hole at the par-five 14th for another and looked on course for a rare birdie at the notorious Road Hole on 17 when he sent in a wonderful four iron to 8ft, only to miss his birdie putt.

Amends were made at 18, though, with an excellent pitch delivered 58 yards out and from the first-hole fairway. Birdie followed and Harrington signed for his first sub-70 round at The Open since Turnberry.

“I actually thought I was better for these 36 holes. I’ve been working hard on different aspects of my game, physically it’s pretty strong and then just mentally I’ve found myself in a better place this week, I haven’t hit my wedges well, that’s all. I’ve had a good attitude on the golf course all week so hopefully I’ll take that into the weekend.”

With that Harrington went off to check the times for the cinema. His preference? The latest Terminator flick. And if he channels his inner Schwarzenegger, the former Open champion could well be back.