Coach Bob Torrance quits after Padraig Harrington's decision of a swing change
Phil Mickelson had tons of experience at his disposal that he decided not switch to a swing change in order to bag some more majors before he would finally call it a day from main stream golf. He pulled in his best performance in last month’s Open Championship
finishing runners up, his best finish for the Open Championship.
Mickelson had revealed a change of strategy to tackle the difficult Links Golf before the start of the event and whatever that strategy might have been, it surely helped him secure a decent place on the leaderboard.
But not all are as prudent as the left-handed Mickelson might have been. Padraig Harrington, the three-time major winner from Ireland has decided to undergo a swing change to help him bring an end to his title drought. His long time coach Bob Torrance, however,
is against the idea and renders it a late disaster in the making.
Torrance revealed, “He has been going down one road that I think is the wrong one and he is determined to go down that road. I said to him, if you go down too far, you won’t come back. We discussed it and I said, ‘I don’t know what road you are taking, do
you think it is the right road?’ He said yes, so I said, ‘Go ahead then.’”
The 39-year-old Dublin star has won three majors including the Open Championship in a row in 2007 and 2008 and the 2008 PGA Championship among his 26 professional career victories. He is hailed as one of the most successful Northern Irishman in the sport
followed by his compatriots Graeme McDowell and Rory Mcilroy and more recent Open winner Darren Clarke.
Torrance, who is also the father of former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance have parted ways with Harrington over the issue citing reasons that he cannot support Harrington’s swing changes anymore.
The 39-year-old Harrington went through a dozen swing changes in the year 2010 to regain the lost yardage he has been looking for all along but failed to make any suitable progress on the course. Torrance is of the view that a swing change is one of the
most important decisions in a golfer’s career and it should be weighed before put into execution. He also opposed a swing change because of Harrington’s age and considered it would do more harm than any good.
“You cannot make changes at 40 in golf. You can make them when you are in your 20’s, but once you get to 40, it is too late,” Torrance added.
Tiger Woods have also faced severe criticism from most of the senior players, over his decision to undergo a swing change under the patronage of his new coach Sean Foley. He has not been able to find his once glorious form even after incorporating several
changes in his swings so far for the season. It will be interesting to note how Harrington would eventually come out of obscurity with his plausible swing changes.
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