Harrington rues missed opportunity

Padraig Harrington feels he missed an opportunity to make a statement at in the second round of the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

The Open champion birdied his first hole but had only one more the rest of the day and to hear him tell it, he missed out on a golden opportunity to climb the leaderboard.

A pair of bogeys following his opening birdie stalled any momentum Harrington had built.

He closed his front nine with bogeys at 17 and 18 and had his only other birdies of the day at the par-three sixth.

A bogey at the ninth gave him a three-over 73 and a 36-hole total of 142.

“Shooting a good score is out there, you definitely can score,” Harrington said.

“I think it’s probably an easier golf course if you feel like you’re trying to go forward than a course you’re trying to defend on.

“I don’t think it played any tougher. If anything, it played a little easier. Less wind out there. It was fine all day.”

Graeme Storm did not find the course very easy as he relinquished his hold on the lead with a 76. But there have been a few players that have posted low scores.

American Scott Verplank grabbed the lead at four under with a 66 and Paul McGinley got himself back in the championship with a 66 of his own to move to level par.

“I said it yesterday, any player playing well out there could definitely shoot a good score,” Harrington said.

“If a guy starts off hitting fairways and greens and holding it, he’ll be confident to do it all day. I think we will definitely see somebody shooting that.”

Why it wasn’t Harrington came down to basics.

“My focus was poor today and it wasn’t a good day on the greens,” Harrington said.

“I kept seeing the negative shots and got on a roll of just trying to hit fairways and missing them. There’s nothing I need to work on technically, but I definitely just need to be a little bit stronger-willed tomorrow.”

Harrington will also have to get better on the greens. He three-putted only once, when he bogeyed the 12th, but he took 31 putts in the second round, four more than he did on Thursday.

“I did create some birdie chances out there, but I couldn’t hole them,” Harrington said.

“I had a lot of birdies from 12 to 13 feet I couldn’t drop. I’ll have to get out there and practice.”

The putting woes and lack of scoring seemed to affect the Irishman, who only yesterday sounded like a man certain he was on the right track for another major title.

“I’m not as positive as I was last night, but it’s still a possibility,” Harrington said.