Pádraig Harrington hopes he can feel the nerves of being in contention in a major late on Sunday afternoon as he hunts a maiden Senior PGA Championship crown.
Harrington missed the cut by one shot at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last week despite a strong finish to his second round. It was perhaps an unsurprising result but the attention shifts firmly on him this week at Congressional CC as he arrives as one of the favourites despite not yet adding to his only senior major at the US Senior Open.
“I think for me personally, every shot is a battle to get your head in the game and go through your routine and hold your focus on what you’re trying to do,” said Harrington when asked does he feel the same competitive juices this week compared to last.
“I think then you have the separate thing of when do you feel nervous and under pressure. That comes in when you’re in contention. So yes, I will feel if I get myself in contention here on Sunday afternoon and I have a chance to win, I will feel more nervous than I did missing the cut for the first 36 holes at the PGA Championship.
“It’s not how big the occasion is or anything. It’s where you are in that occasion. So yeah, it really comes down to if you’ve got something — if you’re in position and you’re worried about losing something, then you can feel nervous and you’re worried about messing up. As I said, yeah, so hopefully I feel nervous here this week on Sunday because that means you’re there or thereabouts.
“It’s not possible in my world to win tournaments without feeling nervous, so I want to be nervous for sure.”
Congressional has been good to Irish golf before. In 2011 Rory McIlroy won his maiden major championship title as he romped to an eight shot victory while Harrington himself as a one from two cut record in 1997 and 2011.
This week’s test will see a shorter golf course from the tee compared to what Harrington faced at Quail Hollow which in theory will play to the 53-year-old’s advantage. But the fairways are firm at the moment and the rough is longer than in Charlotte which might put a premium on accuracy, although forecasted rain could soften up the golf course.
“At the end of the day every shot is its own little battle. You’re trying to get focused and stay focused. Last week’s golf course, it was meant to be long, but it didn’t play long. They just don’t. When you get into a tournament, when tee boxes get moved up five, eight yards, like last week the 9th was a beast in practice. It was close to a drive and a wood in practice, but in the tournament it was like 7-iron, and late rounds in the week guys were hitting 9-iron. Golf courses shorten up when you get a little bit pumped up.
“Coming here, yeah, it’s shorter, so instead of hitting one or two wedges, you’re probably hitting six wedges, seven wedges, something like that, instead of hitting 6-irons you’re hitting 8-iron, 9-iron. So yeah, it definitely plays shorter. Outside of that, the greens are a little bit slower. Well, they were very tough greens last week, so yeah, a lot depends with the setup.
“The rough is heavier here than last week. Substantially heavier here than last week actually. That’s interesting. That could play into the week. If the fairways stayed firm like they were at the moment or firm-ish, sometimes it’s hard — with slopes, it’s running off.
“So that could be difficult. But yeah, you transition — every shot is the same, to be honest. You pick a club and you try and stay focused and not second-guess yourself. Yeah, it’s probably two full clubs shorter every hole than last week, but that’s the difference.”
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