…. Fatiha Betscher, Pebble Beach, CA.
Triple Major winning Padraig Harrington was in an upbeat mood after posting five birdies in a four under 68 on the opening day of the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Harrington ended the first round of the $US 6.8m event four shots behind leading American duo of J B Holmes, who lost out in a play-off last week at Torrey Pines, and Justin Hicks.
Fellow former Open Champion John Daly posted his equal lowest PGA Tour round of a 65 to be among those just one shot off the lead.
The all-Ireland fourball on the first day of the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. (Left to right – Dermot Desmod, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and J P McManus.(Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
Harrington dropped just one shot with long-time good friend JP McManus as his amateur partner, and joining the group featuring fellow Irishman Shane Lowry who had Dermot Desmond as his partner.
The effort is Harrington’s lowest round on the 2014/15 wraparound PGA Tour schedule.
“It was a glorious out there today and I returned a nice score,” said Harrington.
“It good have been a bit better if a couple of putts had of dropped near the end of my round that looked like going in, so it would have been a really good return to shoot six under par while five under would also have been nice, so four under is a little bit disappointing but still there is 54 holes to go.”
Harrington arrived at the 2000 and 2010 US Open venue having missed the cut in four of five events of the 2014/15 season including his last two events including missing the cut in last week’s Farmers Insurance Open with a poor second round 79.
“All I am trying to do is just find my form in these regular events and get a win under my belt,” he said.
“I am not a great believer in people winning Majors out of the blue, as you have to show some form going into Majors by getting into contention a couple of times so that you can handle the pressure that comes with a Major.
“I did miss my first two cuts of this year but then I am physically happy with how my game is.”
Lowry, fresh from his share of 7th in last week’s Farmers Insurance Open and his best-ever finish on the PGA Tour, was just a stroke behind in birding the par five 18th in a round of 69.
“I played good today even though I missed a lot of chances and three under par is the worst score I could have shot,” he said.
“The tournament is a fantastic event and reminds me so much like the Dunhill Links in Scotland as it’s very relaxed and having Dermot (Desmond) as my partner and with Padraig and JP (McManus) in our group, just made for a fun day’s golf.”
