Joy of Golf: How Padraig Harrington’s wife helped get his focus back

Joy Chakravarty 15:45 05/03/2015
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  • Rediscovering his form: Padraig Harrington.

    It was fantastic to see Padraig Harrington back in the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour when he got the better of 21-year-old Daniel Berger in a play-off to win the Honda Classic.

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    As is well known, the 43-year-old Harrington had been winless on the PGA Tour since the 2008 PGA Championship, and this season, lost his playing privilege after his five-year exemption ran out. 

    Harrington has always been the one to keep tinkering with his golf swing, or equipment, or even his own physical self (remember the glasses he wore for a few months in 2013?) and he also suffered from putting yips in 2012.

    In between, he has played some good golf but was never able to put together four consistent rounds, until he went all the way across to Indonesia and won an Asian Tour event in December last year.

    I have written before in this column how Harrington is one of the deepest thinkers in the game. 

    Obviously, I was up at a very odd hour here in New Zealand where I am covering the World Cup, to hear what the affable Irishman had to say about the turnaround in his  fortunes.

    As expected, there were several gems, including how he thought his problem had more to do with focus rather than his swing.

    But the one thing that stood out was how he took one line from an early-morning conversation with his wife, Caroline, and made it his mantra during Monday’s final round.

    Harrington did not have the best Sunday, and having missed two very short putts, went several shots behind the leader.

    Doubts about his putting again started encroaching his mind, but he spent quite some time on the putting green that evening – forced to leave only because it was becoming too dark – and he felt he found something.

    And then came that call in the morning with Caroline. It ended with her telling Harrington: “Remember, if you had a putt to win, you wouldn’t ask anybody else to hit it for you.”

    That’s exactly what Harrington kept thinking the whole round, and made some really nice ones, including the 15-footer birdie on the final hole that helped him get into the play-off with Berger.

    It helped Harrington kill two birds with one stone – he was focused throughout the round, and it helped him putt better.

    The magic of 297 Want to win a PGA Tour event? Make sure you enter the week you are ranked 297th in the world.

    In a bizarre coincidence, the winners of the last two weeks on the PGA Tour – James Hahn and Padraig Harrington – both started the tournament ranked 297th. 

    Hahn won the Northern Trust Open at the famous Riviera Country Club the previous week, beating Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson in a play-off. 

    Eight days later – it was a Monday finish at the Honda Classic – it was the turn of Harrington. 

    Rank outsider: James Hahn.

    He too needed a play-off to beat Daniel Berger. Hahn improved to 86th after the win, but Harrington did better, moving to No82 this week.

    The Irishman benefited from the presence of the world No1 Rory McIlroy in the field.
     
    Boost for WGC Match Play

    The World Golf Championship’s match play event, which saw Accenture not renewing their contract last year, has received a major boost with computer hardware manufacturers, Dell, signing up as new title sponsors.

    Dell, who are based in Austin, Texas, will move the tournament to their hometown after it is hosted in San Francisco this year, with the support of Cadillac. 

    The contract gives them title sponsorship through to 2019.
     
    Stat of the Week

    10 – Last week, we had a nine for Lydia Ko in this space, and since she won again, we thought why not keep up with what is developing into a great story. 

    Ko now has 10 professional wins after her New Zealand Open triumph on Sunday. 

    At 17, she is two years younger than previous record holder Jiyai Shin for the fastest to reach 10 professional wins. In men’s golf, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and

    Rory McIlroy were each 24 when they reached the 10-title mark.
     
    Quote of the Week

    “It came as a big shock when they announced Davis (Love III) was going to be the next US Captain. I am surprised, and I feel they’re overdoing it, with the setting up of a task force and also talking about all the changes they want to bring in.” – World No1 Rory McIlroy weighs in on the recent announcement of American Ryder Cup captain.

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