Pádraig Harrington making most of 'last roll of the dice' to return to major contention

Shane Lowry is confident he's well in contention too, although his putter let him down "big time" on day one of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island

Pádraig Harrington. File picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Pádraig Harrington keeps telling his prospective members of the European Ryder Cup team that the best thing they can do is go win one of the last three majors and an Olympic gold medal.

He wasn’t anticipating throwing himself into the mix this week at the PGA Championship.

Yet Harrington went out Thursday afternoon and shot a 1-under 71 on the Ocean Course, putting him tied for 16th. He set himself up as low Irishman ahead of Shane Lowry at 1-over 73 and Rory McIlroy a disappointing 3-over 75.

“When it comes to me, this is kind of the last roll of the dice for these events, so I've given myself the chance to get myself mentally in place as I would have done back in my heyday and not worry so much about the physical side,” Harrington said. 

“Yeah, I was happy I hit some good shots out there and felt good about it.” 

Playing with fellow past PGA champs Phil Mickelson and Jason Day, Harrington didn’t have to worry about scouting potential captain’s picks and could concentrate on his own game. The old muscle memory kicked in on a tough course.

“It was a bigger draw. I just liked the fact that that's kind of self-fulfilling,” he said. 

“You play in the bigger draws, you tend to play better. It's an ego thing, and that's just the way it is, so I was happy that I was comfortable out there and played my golf.” 

With lighter than expected winds in the afternoon, Harrington played a relatively stress-free round. He drained a 20-footer for eagle on the 11th hole to get to 2-under after a three-putt bogey on 10 and made a bogey on the par-5 16th after flushing his 7-iron out of a fairway bunker over the green.

“Maybe like all majors, maybe I was a bit defensive with my own play at times, but didn't put myself under much stress,” he said. “The two bogeys I had, one was a three-putt that was uphill, which was pretty bad, and the other was off a good shot. I didn't have a stressful day, which is a good thing.” 

Lowry was cruising with a frustratingly quiet round with one birdie and one bogey on the front and a slew of pars through 16 holes to sit even par, missing six birdie chances from inside 15 feet. 

Then the par-3 17th hole jumped up and bit him. His tee shot plugged in a nasty lie about the bunker and led to a disagreeable ruling from an official who first said he could rake the footprints in the waste area and then retracted when Lowry said he intended to hit his second shot into the bottom of the bunker.

After chopping it to the bottom of the bunker into a bare area with little sand, his next shot sailed long and he took a double.

Clearly irritated with the way his day turned, he bounced back with birdie on 18, pouring in a 20-footer to get back to 1-over and T41.

“I pulled my tee shot on 17, but where else are you going to hit it? You're not going to hit it right. I got a really, really bad break there. That was disappointing,” Lowry said.

“But I suppose if I made 4 on 17 and had to par the last, I would have been like, ‘Oh, 1-over isn't that bad.’ To birdie the last and play the last two in 1-over was okay. I just need to go out (Friday) and do the same thing. If I hole a few putts I can be right there on the weekend.” 

The putter was Lowry’s downfall Thursday and stopped him from starting out in red figures. But he left the course encouraged nonetheless.

“I played great today. My putter let me down big time,” he said. “I felt like I had four great chances or I had four putts inside 10 feet on 6, 7, 8, 9. You hole a couple of those and you turn in a couple under. I just kind of grinded it out all day, and I was hitting good shot after good shot after good shot.

“But I'm very happy the way I finished. I was very happy to bounce back from that double, with a birdie on the last especially. A hole like the last hole is not that easy, driver, 4-iron and holed the putt. It's really nice, going to make dinner taste a little bit nicer tonight. But it's kind of one of those rounds where I probably should have shot a couple under anyway, and I should be right in the tournament. But I feel like the way I'm playing I am in the tournament.”