Slow start for Harrington

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington got off to his traditionally slow start in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship in California today.

Harrington was not in optimistic mood for his clash with Japan’s Toshi Izawa at La Costa, having won just one match in four appearances in the event.

The Dubliner had also just returned from a nine-week break in last week’s Malaysian Open and was not too enamoured to discover he was in the first match out today at 7.25am local time following his late arrival from Kuala Lumpur.

It was therefore no surprise when he and Izawa played some decidedly mediocre golf as the 7million US dollar event got under way under bright blue skies.

Izawa’s opening tee shot was so far left of target that it was off the chart used by tournament volunteers to note the position of each shot for the PGA Tour’s website.

From there he was lucky to just carry the lake around 60 yards short of the green – and with Harrington in a greenside bunker in two, he proceeded to hit a dreadful pitch which only just made the front of the green.

However, Harrington could not take advantage and hit his bunker shot well past the flag to run up a bogey five which Izawa matched after two-putting from long range.

The second hole was halved in par threes after Izawa escaped from a greenside bunker, and the Japanese player went one up on the third when Harrington three-putted for a bogey six after both players had found the four-and-a-half-inch thick rough from the tee.

A par four was good enough for Harrington to get back to all square, and he was at least not alone in struggling to find top gear.

There had yet to be a single birdie recorded by the early starters, 2000 champion Darren Clarke winning the first hole against Eduardo Romero with a par but losing the next with a bogey four.

England’s Justin Rose did well to halve the first hole against Stuart Appleby after also finding the punishing wet rough from the tee, and they shared the second in par threes too.