	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE 147TH OPEN

July 19, 2018

Padraig Harrington

Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: There's a lot to gauge. I hit 5 iron, 9 iron. I probably hit the 9 iron 45 yards past the flag. Hit the 9 iron 235. So it's a lot of work. A lot, a lot of thinking out there. You've got to keep your head on all the time. It just takes a lot of effort, this one.

Q. And a lot of improvising, I would imagine.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I don't know about the improvising, but certainly I've got to -- you know, there's a lot of strategy. With the change of wind really kind of got us a bit. And then I was coming home downwind wasn't as -- probably wasn't as -- probably would have like to have kept that little breeze crossing in coming home.

Q. Padraig, just in general, when you were going as well as you were early on, what was your expectation even though you knew that the toughest holes are still to come?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Well, I didn't necessarily think -- every hole out there a challenge. There's no hole that you can -- you know, if anything I bogeyed 9, but I kind of got a little lax on my second shot with the change of wind direction. It was a pity. 10, I played badly. 12, I hit two nice shots on 12 and took bogey.

I just wasn't -- at the end of the day, you've got to knock putts in. The greens got a bit bumpy out there, and I wasn't showing too much confidence on the greens at all. That was a bit -- put me under a bit of pressure coming home. Missed one at 14, missed one 15, 16. Yeah, you got to make some birdies to counteract, to give you some breathing space.

Q. There is plenty of players under par, but Carnoustie held its own virtually in pretty benign conditions. How has the R&A managed that?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Well, they certainly tucked the pin positions. I don't think the scoring is so good in the afternoon, is it? I think the greens got quite, quite bumpy. So for the guys in the afternoon, they're a little bit -- yeah, it's difficult.

Q. And just wondering, like is there a confidence level at the point where you feel you could do something tomorrow to make the cut, just enjoy the weekend and maybe even play better?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You know, I haven't really thought about anything. I'll go and assess things. I know I hit enough good shots and did enough good things, but probably one round is too short a period for recovery.

Q. Just you mentioned the scoring in the early start. Is that just an example of how influential the draw is?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Could be that way tomorrow. Just it was benign conditions for us in the afternoon. It was nice. The wind that was there wasn't really much of a factor. I say that -- we hit it in a bush that was 370 away down 14. I hit 5 iron 320. It obviously was making an element out there of difficulty. I think it was just hard to get close to the hole, and with the nature of the greens late in the day, it wasn't giving you a lot of confidence. You weren't feeling like you were going to hole putts. As I said, you do need to make a couple of birdies to keep ahead of the game out there.

Q. You made that big one on 3, was it? That birdie off the green. A good feeling?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, it was nice. I said I was happy. 1-under through eight is a nice start. As I said, it was good. 9 and 12 -- 12, particularly, because I didn't hit nice shots up there, and I made bogey. But that's going to happen on days like that. Maybe three-putting on 14 just when I needed a birdie. I missed a short one on 16. So, yeah, could have been a level par, 1-over, 2-over day. 5-over is disappointing.

Q. Did the others ask what happened on 18?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I hit 5 iron left in the water, chipped it down, pitched down too far.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297