9 hours ago
Padraig Harrington says keep the head and solve mysteries for US Senior Open joy
Irish star looking forward to challenge of landing another Major title
Patient Padriag Harrington is going old school and has vowed to keep the head as he hunts another Senior US Open title.
The Irish golfing legend and former Ryder Cup captain is aiming to add to his 2022 success with a victory this week in Colorado.
Twice Open champ Harrington is excited for the test at the The Broadmoor course and the 53-year-old reckons he'll have to roll back time in other ways to get the trophy. Looking at the US Open test, the three-time Major winner on the full circuit, said: 'It's certainly old school, there's no doubt about it. I know we're at altitude and most of the conversation is going to be about altitude, dealing with how far the ball is going and not going. Obviously the temperature is having a big effect.
'I think as regards that, it's about patience, and you're going to get it wrong at times. That's just the way it is. 'You're going to hit some good shots that go over the back of the greens, which tends not to be good. You're going to spin the odd one off the green. You're going to have to accept that and be patient. Outside of that, I think the real skill of this week is being good on the greens. As I said, very old school, treacherous at the speeds that we play them at these days and with the slopes."
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher goes for glory and Harrington continued: "It's just going to be a relentless week of taking it on the chin and, if it runs five feet by, not complaining, and get up there and hit your best putt and get on with it. Look, I'm very pleasantly surprised with the USGA Senior Open. They kind of set up a major championship, a senior major championship like maybe what we would have played 20 years ago. Very similar.
'Obviously things have changed in that time, equipment and stuff like that, but it's very familiar to early 2000s. The rough is reasonably heavy, very heavy around the greens. You're going to expect difficulty on the greens. If you can keep it on the fairway, hit lots of greens, you're really reducing the stress this week, and as I said, there is going to be a lot of stress with the altitude causing problems. I've played a lot with altitude over the years, down in South Africa, play a big event in Crans Montana up in Switzerland, so a lot of altitude over the years. I don't know if you're still learning, but the standard practice is to use a meters book instead of a yardage book just for the psychology of if you've got 200 yards and you're trying to hit a seven-iron, that's hard to do.
'Then if we get any wind, any swirling wind at all, now we're up in the mountains where it's swirling wind. 'You're just not going to get it right all the time. You've got to be very patient with it and hopefully you don't get too many bad breaks or you make the most of those bad breaks but you're going to get them. Never been here before. First time. Beautiful. Really beautiful. Fantastic up here. As I said, I'm used to the altitude, but the Broadmoor is really nice. We're having a great time. Everything about the event is great. Just need to play good golf.'
Harrington appears in good form with three Top 10 finishes this year, but said: 'I haven't had a great year. The PGA I played quite well in, so I'm hoping to find that sort of form again this week. Obviously 72-hole tournaments, the bigger golf courses would tend to suit me. Not a lot of drivers this week.
'The mental challenge is always going to suit me. The harder it is, the more fortitude you need, those are the sort of traits that have been good for me over the years. As I said, there's going to be some mysteries, as we would say, balls going over greens or short and you can't do anything about it. You just have to take it and make the most of it. The winner probably will make the most of it. When things go wrong, he'll recover, he'll keep his head for the week and that's certainly my goal is not to lose the head about getting anything wrong because I'm sure it's going to happen a few times.'
