PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2021

Padraig Harrington

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

Q. It's been a good week for the veterans. You think about you, Steve and then Phil.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, look, I showed some nice form the first two rounds. Look, I should have been a lot better after two rounds. Didn't play as well today but worked it around there to shoot 1-over par, which was a good return for the way I played. Hopefully over the next -- hopefully tomorrow I'll come out and my head will be in a better place that I make a few more birdies, and we'll see how we can do.

Q. What do you think about Phil? Are you surprised how he's playing?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I'm not surprised. The hard thing when you get older is getting yourself in position where you feel a bit the butterflies and the nerves. We push too hard; we've got a bit of scar tissue, all that stuff, and it just doesn't happen. But when you get there, the feelings come back you remember, and it is impressive -- what was impressive with Phil the last two days is he took on every shot. It's not like he's taking them on from a point of no fear.

I can guarantee you he's got a lot of -- he's hit plenty of bad shots that there's scar tissue in there, but he never backs down. I just heard now he's just hit it in the water on 13, but Phil would refuse to hit it in the left rough because that would be weak. Hitting it down the water line is not weak, it's the brave shot. Okay, it didn't come off, but in this position -- as I said, the first two rounds, he's not going to back down. He's going to hit the shots and take it on.

What he's got himself now is in a position that he could win this tournament in many different ways. He could continue to play well and run away with it or he could play some of Phil's special golf and still win the tournament. He's in a great position for I suppose the last 24 hours.

Q. No matter what happens with the last 24 hours, if you were the U.S. captain would you pick Phil for your team, for the Ryder Cup?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You know what, I have no idea. I have no idea. I don't even know who they've got, what they -- yeah, it's a long time yet. Sure, if Phil shows any more form on top of this, yeah, you'd want to have an experienced player like that, but I don't think one week would be enough. Mind you, he was up there in Wells Fargo, so yeah, he's showing the form, and he's very much a leader, so I think he'd be a good man to have around the team for sure.

Q. On your side what would be your experience to contrast that, Lee --

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: We have plenty of experience. Yes, we have an experienced team, an older team. Yeah, we're covered.