Latest news with #PádraigHarrington
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘I was doing handstands': Pádraig Harrington blames overconfidence for Senior PGA setback
Pádraig Harrington gets straight back to business after narrowly missing out on the US Senior PGA Championship, where Argentinian Angel Cabrera scooped his second seniors Major in back-to-back weeks. The Dubliner blamed overconfidence – which included a double-bogey on the 15th and a missed putt for par on the last – in his failure to get over the line at Congressional Country Club where he ultimately finished one shy of Cabrera. Harrington – who remains on the Champions Tour for this week's Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Idaho – was, as he put it, 'doing handstands' in the final round where he covered the opening 12 holes in seven under to move two shots clear, only for his late stumble which denied him a second seniors Major (he won the US Senior Open in 2022). 'It's always plagued me my whole life since I've been a kid. Just get over confident and just don't [commit fully],' explained Harrington of a hooked 5-wood tee shot to the 15th which lead to a costly double bogey and halted his momentum. READ MORE 'I'm much better off in with nerves and tension,' said Harrington, adding: 'If you start off with doubt, when you feel doubt over the ball it doesn't feel so bad. If you start off confident then you feel doubt it's like a blow-up. I was just too confident. It happens,' said Harrington, who won $264,00 for sharing runner-up with Thomas Bjorn. Rory McIlroy skips Memorial tournament on PGA Tour No Rory McIlroy this week at the Memorial tournament, the latest of the $20 million signature events on the PGA Tour. McIlroy has opted to skip the Jack Nicklaus-hosted tournament at Muirfield Village – where he has played 13 times, with a best finish of tied-fourth in 2016 – and, instead, will return to action at the RBC Canada Open next week ahead of the following week's US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh. Shane Lowry is the sole Irish player in the field at the Memorial, while Leona Maguire is the only Irish player in the field for the US Women's Open, the second Major of the year on the LPGA Tour, which takes place at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. Maguire is looking to bounce back from a missed cut in the Mexico Open. Conor Purcell – who finished tied-49th in the Soudal Open – is also the only Irish player in the field in this week's tour stop on the DP World Tour, the Austrian Open. Word of Mouth Ben Griffin at Colonial. Photograph: Raj Mehta/Getty 'It's crazy how fast things can change in this game. Even going back to when I didn't have any status on any sort of tours, getting on to the Korn Ferry Tour. I mean, it's a bunch of stepping stones that kind of gets you to the next part of your career. Now I'm at the point where I feel like I'm starting to show that I am an elite golfer. I can compete against the best' – Ben Griffin , now a multiple winner on the PGA Tour, on turning his career around. By the Numbers: 8 There are no fewer than eight players in the field for this week's US Women's Open at Erin Hills who share the same Lee surname: Australian Minjee Lee and Americans Andrea, Jude and Sophia Lee along with four South Koreans further complicated by that fact that two of them also have the same first names. Mi Hyang Lee and Ihee Lee form the quartet of Koreans along with Jeougeun Lee5 and Jeougeun Lee6, the addition of the numbers at the end of their respective surnames differentiating the two players. On this day ... May 27th, 1979 Tom Watson in 1979. Photograph: Getty Tom Watson donned winter wooly headgear and dressed as if for an Arctic expedition in battling his way to victory in the Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, for his 17th career win on the PGA Tour. A cold front hung around the area through the tournament at Jack Nicklaus's signature design course, to the point that even the Golden Bear himself figured conditions to be 'impossible' with greens reading over 17 on the stimpmeter. 'It got out of control,' admitted tournament host Nicklaus. The 36-hole cut fell at 13-over-par and, when the time came for the handing over of the trophy some Sunday, only one man – Watson – was under par. Watson defied the conditions with rounds of 73-69-71-71 for a three-under-par winning total of 285. That second round 69 was considered one of the best bad weather rounds ever played on the PGA Tour, on a day where the field averaged 78.7 and 42 of the 105 starters shot 80 or worse. 'I got out to a good start, and held on for dear life,' said Watson. Social Swing Unfortunately after failing on Monday by one shot, looks like my run of 25 consecutive US Open Championships might come to an end this year, unless a little miracle happens. Very proud of this amazing run that I had at this great Major! – Sergio Garcia now relying on a special invite from the USGA if he is to make it to the US Open at Oakmont. Good morning everyone – former mortgage broker Ben Griffin on completing his second win of the season on the PGA Tour in adding the Charles Schwab Challenge to the Zurich Classic, his second win in five starts. Course record First win on Tour Sundays don't get much better @KristofferR_98 – the DP World Tour's social media salutes Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan 's win at the Soudal Open in Belgium, his breakthrough win on the European circuit. Know the Rules Q: In stroke play, a player has interference to their stance from an immovable obstruction. They determine their nearest point of complete relief using a five iron (as that is the club he would have used had the immovable obstruction not been there) and drop the ball within one club-length of that point, no nearer the hole. The ball settles down in the rough, so the player changes club and plays the ball out on to the fairway with a sand wedge. What is the ruling? A: There is no penalty. Once the ball is dropped, it is back in play. The player must then decide what type of stroke they will make. This stroke, which includes the choice of club, may be different from the one that would have been made from the ball's original spot had the condition not been there. (Clarification Nearest Point of Complete Relief/4). In the Bag Ben Griffin – Charles Schwab Challenge Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K (9 degrees) 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees) Irons: Mizuno JPX 923 (3) , Mizuno Pro S3 (4-PW) Wedges: Mizuno Pro T1 (50 and 56 degrees) , TaylorMade MG4 (60 degrees) Putter: Scotty Cameron Concept 2 Tour Prototype Ball: Maxfli Tour X
Irish Independent
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘There's a lot of people in play' – Pádraig Harrington hopeful as he chases Senior PGA glory at Congressional
Pádraig Harrington hopes to regain his driving mojo as he heads into the final round of the Senior PGA Championship just two shots off the lead. The Dubliner (53) followed a double bogey at the 17th with a birdie at the last to card a one-over 73 in Saturday's third round at Congressional Country Club. It left him tied for seventh, but he's hopeful about his chances as he trails leaders Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera, Jason Caron and Philip Archer by just two strokes on three-under. "Obviously, it's tough enough conditions," Harrington said after a rollercoaster round featuring five birdies, four bogeys and that double-bogey at the 17th. "I'm happy to be two shots back. I felt it could be worse. I made a few nice birdies at times out there. "Wasn't great off the tee, wasn't great with my putting. It kind of left me on edge most of the day. "I certainly could have finished a little stronger. But being only two shots back, there's a lot of people in play, but at least I'm within two of the lead. "Hopefully tomorrow I drive it like I drove it the first day, which was great, and hole a few putts. Goosen shot 68, Cabrera 70 and Caron and Archer a brace of 70s to lead by a shot on five-under from Lee Westwood and Stewart Cink as Darren Clarke's 76 left him joint 23rd on one-over. Meanwhile, Portmarnock's Conor Purcell is chasing his first top 10 on the DP World Tour after a one-under 70 left him tied for 22nd heading into the final round of the Soudal Open in Belgium. The Dubliner (27) is just two shots outside the top 10 on four-under, nine shots behind Scotland's Ewen Ferguson, who shot 69 to lead by two strokes from England's John Parry at Rinkven International in Antwerp. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more On the PGA Tour, world number one Scottie Scheffler is lurking just six shots behind Ben Griffin and Germany's Matti Schmid heading into the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas. Chasing his third win in as many starts, the Texan was left to rue three back-nine bogeys as he made an eagle and seven birdies in a six-under 64 to move to tied seventh on seven-under. "You are always going to hope to go play a perfect round; it basically never happens," said Scheffler, who was seven under after 11 holes before he bogeyed the 12th and 13th and followed birdies at the 16th and 17th with a bogey at the last. "Three bogeys definitely hurts, especially when you are trying to chase, but overall, I did some good things today. I'm definitely going to need to do more of the same tomorrow." Griffin and Schmidt shot 68s to lead by four shots from Rickie Fowler (67) on 13-under with Robert MacIntyre, Nick Hardy and Akshay Bhatia a shot further back. On the HotelPlanner Tour's Danish Golf Challenge, Galway's Liam Nolan roared to nine-under for his round through 16 holes before two closing bogeys forced him to settle for a seven-under 65 at Bogense Golf Club. The Bearna golfer goes into the final round tied for third on 12-under par, just five shots behind Scotland's Calum Fyfe. The top 20 in the Road to Mallorca rankings earn promotion to the main tour and Nolan (25) lies 15th with the meat of the season to come. Meanwhile, Elm Park's Anna Foster (23) continued her excellent rookie season when she tied for 17th behind Sára Kousková in the LET's Jabra Ladies Open. The Dubliner closed with a two-under 69 at Evian Resort to finish eight shots behind the Czech star on two-under. Annabel Wilson tied for 54th on seven-over after a closing 74.
Irish Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Rory McIlroy went to Quail Hollow expecting to win but instead was met with a harsh reality check
Everyone has body language expressions. Rory McIlroy has a distinctive slump. His shoulders sag and his head tilts to one side, as if its weight can't be supported. In the final round at Quail Hollow he dashed his driver into the turf a couple of times, but nothing that could be classified as a tantrum. Resignation trumped every other feeling. This wasn't the Sunday McIlroy imagined: sent out with the also-rans, four and half hours ahead of the final group, 13 shots behind the number one player in the world, colouring in some dead time in the cable TV coverage. He was back in the scorer's hut signing for a one over par 72 before any player that counted had played a shot. What did he think happened? For the fourth day in a row, McIlroy refused to answer questions after his round. At the beginning of the week, it was easy to read his mind: he expected to win. There is no other venue in the United States where he has experienced so much success. There was no good reason for him to fail. Or none that anybody was prepared to entertain. READ MORE After Augusta, he spoke about being unburdened and about playing with freedom. Xander Schauffele said how 'scary' that prospect was for everybody else. But could it really be that simple? Rory McIlroy reacts to his second shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the PGA Championship. Photograph:Only 16 players in the history of golf have won back-to-back Majors in the same season. Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods, Pádraig Harrington and McIlroy are the only ones to have done it in this century. When McIlroy did it in 2014, though, it didn't involve the same expense of emotion. Not enough bad stuff had happened yet. The Majors used to be spread out between the middle of April and the middle of August, but now they come once a month in the heat of the season. McIlroy had four weeks to recover from the greatest achievement of his life and an earthquake of feelings. Everyone just assumed that a month would be enough time. 'Even for Rory, the high that he got – you have to have some comedown,' said Harrington on Thursday. 'The high that he was on was incredible.' Harrington played with him in practice for two days and said, 'he looked great,' but not even McIlroy knew how he would feel until the battle started. For the first two days he was paired with Scottie Scheffler and Schauffle, the top three players in the world rankings, and he played with Schauffle again on Saturday. He has struggled with injury since the beginning of the year and hasn't been a factor in any event, but the dynamic between Scheffler and McIlroy is fascinating. Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Scottie Scheffler after finishing the second round of the PGA Championship. Photograph:At the beginning of the season McIlroy spoke about trying to emulate some of Scheffler's strengths: minimise his mistakes, be more accepting of pars. Then he won at Pebble Beach and Sawgrass and Augusta, setting a scorching pace, when Scheffler's season hadn't got off the ground yet. As the defending champion at Augusta, Scheffler had the ceremonial duty of draping the green jacket around McIlroy's shoulders. He did so with a smile on his face and said afterwards how pleased he was for his 'friend,' but a part of him must have been riled up. In his pre-tournament press conference at Quail Hollow Scheffler was asked if he had been 'inspired' by McIlroy's early season form and he immediately said that he had been asked the same question when he won the Byron Nelson two weeks earlier. The clear implication was that he wasn't going to continue addressing that question. 'I think any time somebody has beaten any of us out here, I think we're all – I guess you could say inspired, but I think we're all fired up to come out here and compete,' said Scheffler at the Byron Nelson. 'This week I was the best player. I have the week off, and we'll see the week after who is the best player at the PGA.' That is the kind of question Scheffler is comfortable with. Scottie Scheffler (right) gives Rory McIlroy his green jacket after winning the 2025 Masters. Photograph:The game needs a rivalry like this. Since the first time they were both in the same Major field, nine years ago, they have played 78 rounds in those tournaments. The difference in scoring average is less than half a shot in Scheffler's favour. In terms of their scoring average in the final round of Majors, there is still only half a shot between them; still in Scheffler's favour. Both of them are in the top four of all-time in that statistical category. Astonishing. This week McIlroy didn't bring any part of his game to Quail Hollow. He missed 30 fairways out of 56 for the week and was dead last in that statistic with a full field over the first two days; at the weekend, he was in the bottom few. Without driving, his game has no arms or legs. One of the destructive spin-offs was that he hit just 52 per cent of greens in regulation. On the 16th on Sunday, he nearly put his ball into a hospitality tent, and he nearly put it in the water on the 7th and 17th. On the drivable 14th, though, he couldn't avoid the lake. When the group had moved on, one of the marshals reached down from the grassy bank and rescued the ball from the water as a keepsake. From McIlroy's ball, somebody had salvaged something.
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Irish struggle at Quail Hollow but Pádraig Harrington remains evergreen
How did the world's top 10 fare on day one of the US PGA Championship? Not great. For the first time since 1994, not one of them was in the top 10 on the leader board at the end of the opening round. ' Rory McIlroy was put through the wringer , Xander Schauffele couldn't keep up, Justin Thomas was mangled, Brooks Koepka was barbecued,' writes Denis Walsh, McIlroy now in a battle to make the cut. Those mud balls didn't help lighten the mood. Pádraig Harrington shot two over par, the same as Shane Lowry and one better than McIlroy, in what was, remarkably, his 86th appearance in a major tournament . His 'endurance is peerless,' writes Denis, and backed by a swing that gets stronger with age, Harrington still believes he can beat the best. One particular bookmakers was so convinced that Cork would prove to be the best this championship season , they paid out on them winning the All-Ireland a few weeks ago. 'Madness,' says Joe Canning who previews their meeting with Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds this Sunday, Joe edging towards Limerick making it seven Munster titles in-a-row. In rugby, Gerry Thornley previews Munster's must-win URC game against Benetton tonight, and Nathan Johns hears from Harry McNulty, Ireland's Sevens captain in Paris last summer, who describes the IRFU's decision to discontinue its men's Sevens programme as 'disrespectful to the Olympic programme'. READ MORE In racing, Brian O'Connor salutes Rachael Blackmore, who announced her retirement earlier this week, describing her as 'perhaps the most significant female figure to ever ride a racehorse' . But while it is true that she 'cracked the glass ceiling forever', 'presumptions that it is in smithereens smack of complacency'. The jockey's room, he says, 'remains largely a male preserve'. In athletics, Ian O'Riordan talks to Hiko Tonosa who is hoping to regain his Irish marathon record after it was broken by Peter Lynch last month. Tonosa set his mark at the Dublin Marathon last October, a day that was, he says, 'like the start of my life'. And after Donald Trump likened the gift of a $400 million jet from Qatar to a golf gimme, as only Donald Trump could, Johnny Watterson looks at the often contentious history of the gimme in the sport . At times, it's been more 'psychological warfare' than 'a gesture of goodwill'. TV Watch : Sky Sports Golf continues its coverage of the PGA Championship from 1pm, and there's athletics action in the form of the Doha Diamond League at 5pm on Virgin Media Two and BBC2. Aston Villa continue their push for a Champions League spot when they play Spurs in the Premier League (Sky Sports, 7.30pm), and fourth plays sixth in the Premier Division with the meeting of Bohemians and Shelbourne (Virgin Media Two, 7.45pm). And in rugby, Munster will attempt to seal a spot in the URC play-offs when they play Benetton in Cork (TG4 and Premier Sports 1, 8pm).
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
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.' READ MORE 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. [ After reaching paradise, Rory McIlroy must now find a new dream to dream Opens in new window ] [ US PGA Digest: Scheduling clash deprives Quail Hollow of John Daly, but golf's 'Lazarus' will be back next year Opens in new window ] 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.
