THE 152ND OPEN

July 19, 2024

Padraig Harrington

Mixed Zone

Q. How did it go?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I played lovely golf, like yesterday, first eight holes. I made a terrible bogey on 6 and then didn't hole my putt for birdie on 8. I just kind of hit a wall, even though I shouldn't have been, I was thinking about the cost. I played 9, 10, 11, 12 just out of position, out of position, position, struggling along, 14 as well.

So I put myself unnecessarily -- I was playing much better than that. Both days I've been putting magnificent coming in here, but both days I just haven't holed a putt. I don't know what the longest putt I've holed in is. I certainly haven't holed too many. Even if I've holed a 10 or 15-footer, I haven't seen too many of them.

It's tough when you're not holing putts, you get tentative on the longer putts. But like I said, I have been putting great. I played terrible last week and putted well for two days. This week I come out and play really well and putted terrible. That's golf.

Q. Thinking about the weekend?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, cuts are always a nasty thing. Definitely if there was no cut line, I would have been a couple of shots better. You do start thinking about -- and I shouldn't have. I should have been -- like I could have gotten myself under-par for this tournament. It's only four shots back, and it looks like the good side of the draw would be doing okay.

Now it's a bit of an also ran. Like I said, just go out there and try to find some form on the weekend and bring it into next week.

Q. It's nice to get a couple more rounds as well with next week in mind as well?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Bad forecast tomorrow, isn't it? Don't know how nice it's going to be (laughter).

Yes, it is nice to be out there playing. Last week I was so far off the mark. I'm feeling pretty miserable about my ability to compete, and this week I'm looking at and going I should be a lot better. I should be right in the competition here. So I'm feeling a little bit more -- a little better than I did Friday night, let's put it like that.

Q. Troon is baring its teeth. How is it standing up as an Open venue?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It's been great. I suppose the thing you've got here, you've got three different sixes. You've got six downwind going out, or as we played them, into the wind.

Then you have the six in the middle that are really awkward. They're really tricky. There's blind shots, there's gorse.

Q. Everything.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: They're the ones that you get double bogeys on. 8, 9 -- like 9 was a really tough tee shot today. Second shot is tough. 10 obviously playing very easy for what it normally is. 11 and 12 are very tough. You've got those six holes.

Then you've got six big holes coming home. Obviously they're downwind. What's interesting is it doesn't matter what way the wind is. You're going to have six easy, six hard, and six get through in the middle, unless it's a perfectly calm day.

So it really is a good venue, like a great venue, that you're not really going to get away with -- it doesn't matter what the conditions are. You're going to get some really tough holes and some easy holes, easier holes.

Q. Two youngish guns you were playing out there with as well, Padraig, Matt Jordan, who's a very good links player, and Davis Thompson, first time really at this test. How do you think they fared?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Davis did well to make his cut the first time. If you saw his shot into the 1st hole yesterday, you wouldn't have had that much hope for him, but he's obviously a fine player. Even though he plays on a windy golf course there in Sea Island.

He should enjoy his weekend and look at his weekend as trying to gain experience for going forward. He looks like a player who could be playing many Opens in the future. Yeah, he fought hard, I can tell you, to make that cut. So fair play to him.

Q. Being on the Senior Tour, it's nice to be able to pit your wits against some of these younger guys and see where you're at?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: As I said, last week I was struggling. I fell way off the mark last week. I suppose, when you miss cuts, that's what happens. You just feel like, I'm not with it. This week I'm really disappointed to be 3-over par. If I had a good week in the greens, I'd be a lot better. Yeah, I was very capable so far this week.

I am a lot more bullish about my game. Last week I was kind of struggling in my head and saying, what am I doing here? This week I know why I'm here.

Q. A lot of lads who have won Opens in their 50s, they're out the door, and they're gone. They're already gone home, Ernie Els and other players. You're so competitive, though, aren't you?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It's a different era for me. I'm the first one that would have -- I got the uptick on the financial side of the Tour when I came out. I've had a physio and a trainer since '97, full-time physio.

You go now into -- we have a room in there, and there's probably in that particular room alone, there's 20 -- more than 20 private physios who work on players. I had that from '98. I was probably the first one, pretty close, to bring out a physio full-time here. That makes a difference for longevity.

I had a trainer since then. So it really is just a different time, if you know what I mean. The guys before me hit a few balls and went and had a few pints. It's just the changing.

And I see that too because I'm on the Champions Tour and I look over at the guys coming out -- and I've stolen a little bit of an advantage again because I'm at the start of that era, but the guys coming behind me, there's plenty of fit young fellas relatively coming out the next number of years.

They were thinking of moving the Seniors back to 45, but they really don't because a 45-year-old is fit and strong now compared to what he was 30 years ago.

Q. Do you need to motivate yourself at all on the weekend?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, no, not at all. I still have hopes of having a great weekend. Yeah, that's just the way it is. I like what I see in my game. I have been putting great. So hopefully I free up over the weekend and hole some putts.

I'm sure if you look -- I couldn't hole anything today. I couldn't hole a putt outside -- I holed a few 5-footers that were important. I don't think I holed anything outside of that. Hit two nice shots into 16 when I needed it, hanging on the lip.

I played very nicely actually coming home.

Q. You just played really pretty well tee to green. You you came in well under-par. Is that kind of a reasonable summation?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You've summed it up. I missed some chances yesterday. Maybe lucky to squeak in at 1 or 2-under par. Then today I missed a lot early on.

Then when you're not going in, you get a lot more tentative. Then I got a little tentative with swing around those, 11, 12, 14, three dropped shots, and all of a sudden you're looking at the cut line when I should have, if I had a couple of those putts that dropped, I'd be looking at trying to get in the clubhouse at 3 or 4-under par, even 2-under par is going to be well in this tournament.

Q. Do you feel on the weekend, if the putter just gets warmer, even hotter, you get under-par figures, then you have the chance of a really good weekend?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, but that's all I have is the chance of a good weekend, unfortunately. It's a long way back from there. Yeah, there's no doubt, like I feel like I can play well from here. I've immensely improved. My ball striking was terrible last week. I'm hitting a lot better this week, and I have been putting well. Short game seems to be coming around.

To be honest, an extra two rounds of golf with no stress is probably exactly what I need.

Q. You played four rounds, I think, of three majors last year. Like this part of the feeling of being part of it, this part of golf, the non-Seniors part of golf, is that something that takes mind transition from one Tour to another in terms of how you place your ambitions?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Not really, but sometimes you come out on the regular Tour -- last week I know it was just the Scottish Open, I was well off the mark, and I'm kind of shaking my head, why am I here? I was injured at the PGA, and it was a bit like that as well. I'm not showing up just to make up the numbers at the moment. I want to compete.

Certainly this week I feel a lot better. I could easily be -- I could easily be well under-par here, 2, 3-under par, 4-under par. That would be required to be in contention.

So I'm feeling a lot better this week. I'll be back. I'm not retiring yet.