Experience helps Harrington navigate opening round on soft greens at Irish Open

Shane Lowry leads the home contingent on three under after three momentum-changing birdies on his homeward nine, having started on the 10th.

EXPERICNCE: The 2007 Irish Open winner did not make the impact on the tournament leaderboard he would have hoped for on Thursday as he got his 30th consecutive appearance in his national Open underway in the morning calm before persistent showers returned to the former Ryder Cup venue. Yet his experience in shooting a two-over-par 74, eight shots off the first-round lead. 

You can always rely on Padraig Harrington to provide the best synopsis of what is required to successful navigate the golf course on any given tournament week and after 18 holes of the Amgen Irish Open, the three-time major champion was once again up to the task.

The 2007 Irish Open winner did not make the impact on the tournament leaderboard he would have hoped for on Thursday as he got his 30th consecutive appearance in his national Open underway in the morning calm before persistent showers returned to the former Ryder Cup venue. Yet his experience in shooting a two-over-par 74, eight shots off the first-round lead held jointly by Spain’s Nacho Elvira, Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Romain Langasque of France, confirmed to him what it will take to win here on Sunday evening.