US PGA Championship: Backed by a swing that gets stronger with age, Pádraig Harrington still believes he can beat the best
At three minutes past seven
Pádraig Harrington
pinched his tee into the turf, swished his driver three times in brisk rehearsals and launched a drive down the middle of the fairway. Luke Donald's ball finished 15 yards behind him; Martin Kaymer was twice as far back. Harrington was giving Kaymer 13 years.
'I did it,' the tee box announcer said to a man in a PGA blazer, as the players walked away. 'That's the one I was worried about. Paawdrig.'
There is a so-called major on the PGA Champions Tour this week, but Harrington gave it a swerve to test his mettle against the greatest players in the world at the US PGA Championship, on a wet beastly course with greens as hard as a nut. He has no other way of thinking.
'They have their silliest major this week [on the Champions Tour],' he said. 'I believe my limited chance of winning this event is much more important than my good chance of winning that event.'
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Because he has been around for so long, we take Harrington for granted. His career has been one of the greatest stories in Irish sport. This is his 86th appearance in a major tournament and in the field this week, only Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia have played in more.
In the context of Irish golf, Harrington's endurance is peerless. Christy O'Connor snr made his last appearance in a major at 54, the age that Harrington will reach in August. But O'Connor snr only appeared in 26 Majors because in his era, European players were rarely invited to tournaments in the United States.
Pádraig Harrington finished round one at Quail Hollow on one over, along with fellow Irishman Shane Lowry. Photograph:Darren Clarke, a contemporary of Harrington's, appeared in 43 majors and he is third on Ireland's all-time list of major appearances. McIlroy won't pass Harrington's number for at least another seven years.
On weeks such as this, Harrington is the Daddy Bear. On Tuesday and Wednesday he practised with McIlroy and Shane Lowry, hitting it past the Offaly man and straining to keep up with one of the longest drivers in the world. They listen to him. When he won this tournament in 2008, he was the first European to do so in 68 years. For the most glorious era in Irish golf, he lit the fire.
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Harrington's pursuit of improvement is relentless, even still. He drives the ball nearly 10 yards further, on average, than he did 10 years ago. As he got older, he chased more speed in his swing. To keep up. To stay young. Playing together, the top three players in the world rankings – Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy and Xander Schauffele – double-bogeyed the monstrous 16th hole in round one. Harrington reduced it to a drive, a five iron and two putts.
'Sixteen? No, not an issue at all,' he said after the round. 'It (his drive) went a long way. Big holes don't scare us.'
Harrington has a lifetime exemption to play in this tournament, but you couldn't imagine him coming back year after year if he didn't think he could compete. He shot two over par in round one, the same as Lowry and one better than McIlroy, and yet he couldn't disguise his disappointment.
'I was good yesterday,' he said. 'I did some good work with Bob Rotella (sports psychologist) but it was hard to do today. It's harder to bring it to the golf course. A few bad holes around the turn, a couple of three-putts. It was a strong finish. It was disappointing to drive it on [to the green at] 14 and three-putt it. I needed a break at that stage. It was certainly a difficult test.'
But that's why he came here. He won't change now.
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