Padraig Harrington eager for the Volvo Open
Three-time major winner, Padraig Harrington is looking past his disqualification at the HSBC Abu Dhabi championship this past Friday and is eager for the Volvo Golf Champions to start. The European Tour event will take place in
the Kingdom of Bahrain this weekend.
Padraig was disqualified after a viewer emailed the tour about the player moving the ball on the green in the process of marking it. Harrington, who had moved the ball himself, would have only incurred a two-stroke penalty were
it for normal play. Instead of 65, the player would have received a 67.
After the first round, Padraig was just one stroke away from the lead. After he was dismissed from the tournament, the player handled himself very well and accepted the blame. Harrington's disqualification led to a lot of discussion
on the rules, especially by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Since the R&A made Harrington their ambassador only a month ago, they were deeply concerned about the issue. Despite all the discussions and arguments, rules are still rules and they have been there
since a hundred years now. Regardless of how great of a player breaks them, the rules cannot be bent.
As for the tournament ahead, Padraig is keen to try out his luck on the Colin Montgomerie designed Royal Golf Course Club. With the course being in the 18 hole layout, this inaugural event has gotten players excited.
"It's (the week) been interesting. Now I'm thinking about this week,” said Harrington."If you turn up at a tournament, you never want to be sort of talking about other things and be distracted. So this week has been very much about
getting into this tournament and last week was last week."
Good thing Padraig does not let the small mishaps get to him. Moreover, Harrington is happy that his disqualification has initiated a strong debate on this topic at least.
The 39-year-old Dubliner is hoping to do well in the 1.7 million euro event this weekend. Hopefully, the tattle talers will not be on the lookout for Harrington’s wrongdoings on the course this time around.
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