With Ryder Cup looming, Harrington hits form at last
Padraig Harrington's game came in for some pretty heavy scrutiny at the early stages of last week's Vivendi Cup.
With the Ryder Cup starting on Friday, the Irishman's form has been a cause for concern, and nothing Harrington could do in the opening two days in Paris did much to allay those fears, the 39-year-old finishing two-over-par on Friday, though he'd done just about enough to make the cut on Thursday.
Thankfully the Dubliner improved as the weekend continued, shooting 69 on Saturday and then coming home with a best-of-the-day eight-under-par 64 yesterday - a round that comprised seven birdies and an eagle on the 13th (plus one bogey).
That was enough to see Harrington finish eighth at the Marly course yesterday at Golf de Joyvenal, 13-under-par for the tournament and four strokes behind winner John Parry, the 23-year-old Englishman who, in taking his first European Tour win yesterday, secured his place on the Tour next year.
With the Ryder Cup imminent though, it was Harrington whose play was attracting more attention. The three-time major winner took heart not just from his improved play, but also the good wishes he received from fellow players over the weekend.
"Probably the best thing about playing in Paris last week was the passion of the players for Europe to win The Ryder Cup," he told reporters.
"You wouldn’t believe how many of the rank and file of The European Tour came up to me and told me how much it would mean to them if we were to win this week.
"It’s amazing – guys I wouldn’t necessarily know very well were all coming up to me and not just wishing me luck, but wishing the whole team luck as well. I would think there won’t be a single European Tour player who isn’t watching every single shot this week.
"You would have to go a very long way to find one who isn’t fully behind us, and it’s great to know that we have that support.”
On his own game, Harrington remained quietly confident. "Hopefully I’m peaking just at the right time – that would be nice. There’s nothing like making a few birdies to give your confidence a timely boost, and hopefully I can carry that through to this week. Last week was good preparation for match play golf, because you had to keep chasing birdies on that course."
Harrington has long been one of the more popular members on the European Tour. This weekend the star will need to prove he's worthy of his place, however - and to do so he'll need more than just a winning personality.
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