DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN

July 1, 2021

Padraig Harrington

Mount Juliet Estate

Quick Quotes

Q. 76, not the start you were hoping for, how would you assess that round?

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON: Didn't go the way I wanted it. Hit lots of pure shots. Hit a few bad shots as well. Struggled a bit on the greens. Yeah, it was not what I expected. I was nearly reining it in Tuesday and Wednesday. Sometimes you have high expectations, can backfire a bit.

Q. You felt overall it was one of those days as opposed to anything in particular?

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON: Absolutely. There was some new stuff out there and you bring it on to the golf course and you bring it on and it can be different and it was different. Struggled to do it at other times. Disappointing score but not really disappointed in terms of how things are going.

Q. Just to assess, you went out with feelings it might be good, but your own assessment?

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON: As I said, I suffered a bit from playing too well in practise. Yeah, that happens sometimes, and doing a few new things on the golf course is slightly different, gets a little harder to do, and yeah, you know, just kept at it and see how we can get on tomorrow. But yeah, hit some really pure shots. Lots of good, score was bad, but one of those days, struggled a bit on the greens. Yeah, so that's kind of one of those days when it comes to scoring but plenty of positives.

Q. Seeing the crowds streaming in, the feeling of an Irish Open again, does bring in good or does it raise level of expectation?

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON: No, I was more just a little bit of difference when you're playing. Playing and practising, it's obviously easy when you're doing something new and you go on a golf course, it just takes a little bit of time. That's all it is. So yeah, it was just a little different. I was a little quicker and, yeah, saw plenty of positives. On top of it, I putted very badly today in terms of holing putts and that didn't help when you don't play so great. I wasn't backing it up with any good breaks or anything good happening. So, yeah, one of those days in terms of scoring but plenty of positives in terms of where I'm at with my game.