Fatiha Betscher, San Antonio, Texas.
Triple Major winning Padraig Harrington sent out a message to the likes of struggling World No. 2 and fellow Irishman, Rory McIlroy declaring the most important thing before a Major is ‘competitive practice’.
Harrington is returning to the PGA Tour after two weeks of competition in the Far East, first on the OneAsia Tour in the Thailand Open and then teeing up in the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour Maybank Malaysian Open.
He spent last week at home in Dublin that included a short game practice sesssion for one day with coach, Peter Cowen who had flown over to Dublin to be with Harrington.
This week is Harrington’s sixth PGA Tour counting event with his best result coming in his first event of ninth in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Padraig Harrington makinng a point alongside the 18th green at TPC San Antonio. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
Harrington, like a good number this week, is making his debut in the Valero Texas Open, and looking for that edge he can take next week to Augusta and his 14th straight Augusta National appearance since 2000 when he made his debut, and a week after winning in Brazil.
“I always like to play the week before a major,” he said.
“For me, anyway, if I’m at home, I’d be working on things and changing things and you turn up and all of a sudden you realize something isn’t quite as sharp as you thought it was.
“Whereas, if you get out and play 72 holes of golf, the golf course will find you out, the conditions will find you out, and you’ll know exactly what needs a little bit of topping off for the tournament next week.
“So, for me, it’s definitely there’s no other way. I’ve got to come out and play and try to get competitive this week. I’ll try to peak this week knowing that I’ll probably fail and hopefully.”
And Harrington is at odds with four-time Major winning, Phil Mickelson who last week played down the importance and worth of playing the week before the Masters.
“As I said at the start, the most important thing for me is competitive practice,” he said.
“A card in my hand, trying to shoot the score, 72 holes, preferably ‑‑ actually, 54 holes would be ideal, but we can’t have that wish. 54‑hole finish on Saturday would be ideal, but I need competitive practice.
” The last thing, even if I went to Augusta this week and played seven days in a row, I wouldn’t be as sharp as I would be by playing here and competing. You need to have a card in your hand to figure out exactly how things are working in your swing. Doesn’t matter how many shots, for me, anyway, doesn’t matter how many shots I hit on the range. It’s only when I have a card in my hand that I truly see what my game is like.
“There is no doubt in my mind, if this tournament is ‑‑ this is a fine tournament in itself. But if it was played out on the local runway the week before a major, I’d still be turning up. I need competition. I need to be competing against another 156 guys this week or 155 other guys in order to test my game going into next week.
“There are obviously downsides to that. If you get in contention, it’s tiring. It could be a big, long week. You never know, and that is a downside. Maybe some of the conditions, certainly the sand in the bunkers is nothing like Augusta. There is a bit more rough, nothing like Augusta.
“But outside of that, there is a slight downside. The competitive part far supersedes anything else in my mind. I’ve got to be competitive the week before a major. As I said, I try to peak this week knowing I usually fail and get right the week after. As a lot of people that play very well at Hilton Head will tell you.”
Harrington will play in Wednesday’s Oak Farms Dairy Pro-Am and then play the first two rounds of the $6.2m event in the company of Americans John Huh and big-hitting Gary Woodland.
