Golf Ryder Cup 2010: Graeme Mc Dowell backs Padraig Harrington at a press conference
Padraig Harrington is fully backed up by his team in front of the press.
As the hands of the clock are ticking towards the coming Thursday, the bombardment of questions is getting stronger day by day. Press wants to know how Padraig Harrington will cope up with such a pressure, and how will he tackle his counterparts
when he has failed to win a title in two years.
Padraig fully understands the responsibility that has been put onto his shoulders after the wild card saga. Thereby he made an appearance in Paris, where the Vivendi Cup was taking place. It is worth mentioning, that the Dubliner made a
64 in the last round to finish in the eighth place. However, he has reached Wales but the press and the fans still have doubts regarding his upcoming performance in the Ryder Cup.
Owning to team unity, Graeme McDowell backed up his fellow team member in front of the press and helped him to give the best possible answers to those who reckon he does not deserve Ryder Cup appearance this week.
McDowell said that he was certain about Harrington’s credibility to handle the pressure, and he took him as a great force in the team. He further quoted Colin Montgomerie’s words when he left Paul Casey and Justin Rose out to take Harrington in that “nobody
in match play golf wants to play - a great competitor like Padraig Harrington”.
Certainly nobody can deny the persistence of the Dubliner which he demonstrated in capturing his three majors, but the last of them was the US PGA in 2008 and he has not won a tour event since. When compared to Paul Casey, the dropout reached the last two
finals of the World Match Play in Arizona, when Padraig lost the first rounds to Pat Perez and Jeev Milkha Singh.
Commenting on Padraig’s form Mc Dowell said that his fellow player was well prepared for the Ryder Cup and that was evident from his performance in Paris. Padraig Harrington efforts paid off in Paris where the Vivendi Cup was taking place. He shot the best-of-the-day
score (64). That was his joint lowest round of the season.
Regarding a rumour of Harrington sitting out of the field, Mc Dowell said that nothing of that sort was supposed to happen as the players get picked to play not to sit outside like a show piece. He further commented that Monty was keeping an eye on him;
therefore his past performance did not matter at all. He accepted the fact that Harrington gave the worst scores of his career in last ten weeks, but for the captain that did not matter. All he wanted was justice with the game, which Harrington is expected
to give.
At another place, Mc Dowell gave his stance regarding Montgomerie’ position in last month; he said that Monty had an impossible task to perform. There were lots of players deserving the pick and Europe needed a strong team to cater the requirements of the
Ryder Cup. He further explained that he was chosen because of his victory at the US and Wales Open, whereas the rest of the first four earned the automatic spot by winning their respective championships.
While talking to the press McDowell said that twenty-ten course was a set up for a very good driver. Therefore players like Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will have a great weapon in their hands as they are big hitters.
This is all about the press conference which took place yesterday in which Padraig Harrington was accompanied by Graeme Mc Dowell. Somehow, it seemed as if Harrington had hired Mc Dowell as his speaker.
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