U.S. SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2022

Padraig Harrington

Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course)

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Padraig Harrington, even-par 71. Up and down front nine, but you really turned it up on the back. Can you talk us through your round a little bit.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I struggled with the pace of the green, so a couple of three-putts on the front nine set me back.

But I drove the ball well, and particularly well as I got into the round, late run in the round. So I pretty much broke the back of the back nine with the driving and had a lot of opportunities.

I'm happy enough with level par, but it certainly could have been better.

Q. How tough were the conditions out there today?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It was about as tough, as heavy a rain as you could get without it flooding out. Like on the first green it flooded out, but we were waiting for the squeegees, but the time the squeegees had gotten there it had actually started to go into the ground, so for the rest of the day we didn't have any casual water.

Yeah, it was tough. You know, okay, you don't want to be in the rough because it's heavy enough when it's wet, so it's to be avoided for sure in these conditions. Yeah, you've got to keep it on the fairway.

Then as I said, the greens didn't seem to get any easier. The back nine pin positions were much easier. It was like two different referees set up the front nine and the back nine.

Q. How different do you think the course will play tomorrow and into the weekend as the weather shifts here?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I don't know how the weather's going to shift.

Q. It's supposed to be nice.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I'm certainly happy with the golf course. I don't like playing in the rain, but I know -- it was a substantial advantage -- most guys out there know if they miss a fairway they can't get to the green, where majority of the time if I did miss the fairway, I'm not under that same pressure, let's say. I can still get it up there.

I think going forward I don't really get a choice, do I, in the weather? So I'll play whatever comes.

Q. Do you think the afternoon wave will have some advantage due to the conditions? And did the course soften up at all?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: The softening up of the golf course hasn't helped. Like I hit a nice 8-iron into 17, pitched about seven, eight feet short of the hole. And it's like an 8-iron, and it spun back 25 feet.

The softening of the course, I try to see it -- obviously, you don't want it rock hard. These greens are extremely difficult, but they're pretty soft at the moment that you have to watch for your ball spinning back.

Q. Physically how do you feel? Because you talked about --

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: The physios have been doing a good job, and the leg is a lot better than it was Monday. It didn't bother me at all today. I keep going in there. They're actually doing a very good job. They're right on top of it. I'm happy with where it is at the moment. I don't envisage it being an issue for the next three days.

Q. We talked about some comparisons with the U.S. Open and this championship. Are you happy with an even-par score to start as you would in a U.S. Open?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: As I said, I know I had an opportunity to do better out there, but even-par, you're not losing ground out there. You're going to be well in it.

Conditions were tough enough that -- and as I said, I just wasn't -- pace of the greens, I found them extremely quick when we started out today. Like I ran several putts well by the hole, so that puts you on edge for the rest of the day.

As much as I could sit there and say, oh, if I holed this or did that, it would be better, I am content with level par.