Harrington hits back

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington finally improved his terrible record in the Accenture Match Play Championship in California today.

Harrington was not in optimistic mood ahead of 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 pleased to discover he was in the first match out at 7.25am local time following his late arrival from Kuala Lumpur.

But after a shaky start the 33-year-old took advantage of some poor golf from his opponent to claim a 2&1 victory and a place in the second round.

Izawa’s opening tee shot set the tone for a poor quality contest, landing 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, 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 despite bogeys at the seventh and ninth, he went to the turn one up when he was conceded a birdie four at the eighth with his opponent in trouble.

The standard of golf suddenly improved several notches on the back nine and the next two holes were shared in birdies rather than bogeys, but Izawa then found more trouble on 14 and 15 and conceded both to drop three behind with three to play.

A superb approach to six feet on the par three 16th kept the contest alive but Harrington closed out the match on the 17th.

Before today Harrington’s record in this event was equally bad as that of Colin Montgomerie, who has also won just one match in four appearances.

The Scot has slipped to 57th in the world rankings, outside the all-important top 50 which guarantees entry into major championships and the biggest and most lucrative events.

As things stand, the former seven-time European number one is not even currently exempt for this year’s Open championship at his home course of Royal Troon, or the US Open he came so close to winning on three occasions.

His low ranking means he drew a tough first round opponent in Zimbabwe’s Nick Price and the first three holes were halved.

Former champion Darren Clarke was in trouble however, the 2000 winner trailing veteran Argentinian Eduardo Romero with holes running out.

Clarke won this event by beating David Duval in the semi-finals and Tiger Woods in the 36-hole final, but came into the tournament on the back of three consecutive missed cuts, including a first round 82 in Los Angeles last week.

He was gifted the first hole when Romero bogeyed but returned the favour on the next after finding a greenside bunker, and also bogeyed the seventh. Another bogey on the 13th saw Clarke two down with five to pla.

Justin Rose was also facing an early exit, the young Englishman three down after 11 holes against Stuart Appleby.

Rose, who has taken up US Tour membership, was all square after eight but then lost the next three holes.

The most eye-catching first round tie between Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson was also underway, the Ryder Cup rivals sharing the first seven holes in par.

Paul Casey recorded his first birdie of the day on the 10th to get back on level terms against USPGA champion Shaun Micheel, and Ian Poulter was also level with Chris Riley after 13.