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SMURFIT KAPPA EUROPEAN OPENJuly 6, 2007Padraig HarringtonSTRAFFAN, IRELAND Q. That was an interesting scenario where the cut looked like it was beckoning rather than a chance to win the tournament. PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, it was -- well, it changed around very quickly. Obviously I played quite well early on. I hit two bad shots -- I only hit one bad shot up to the par 3 and hit my tee shot fat to the 17th and obviously that was in water. So it looked like I'm 4-over par with things not really going my way at that stage and putts not dropping and things. It certainly didn't look like any way back. And I hit a nice pitch to five feet tricky putt crosswind and holed that and that sort of gave me some confidence. I hit a nice 5-iron 167 yards at the next hole to 12 feet and it just snuck in the right edge; putts that I've been missing, that one just got into the hole. At that stage, all of a sudden I'm 2-over par instead of being 4-over par. I hit my third bad shot of the day with a 5-iron on the second and missed the green but holed it from about 12 feet and everything was looking up from there on in. I hit driver, 5-wood just short of the next hole and chipped it stone dead. I had a pitching wedge stone dead at the next. I had a 4- or 5-footer on the 5th hole to go 1-under par and be very much in the tournament. Like I'm thinking I'm competing to win the tournament where six holes earlier I'm packing I bags to go home. It's a strange game, very strange how quickly it turned around. Missed that but played the rest of the holes very nicely. Played 6 nicely. Hit a nice tee shot on 7. Couldn't believe it went in the water. Just dumbfounded actually how it got that far right and didn't carry as well. So it was a surprise. But made a good par. Things were going my way. Holed a good putt on 8. You get these sort of little spells in the tournament where things go your way. So very happy with it. Q. Did you turn it around, because you did say yesterday you were not playing all that well, you were hitting your driver short and you had a new driver if the bag today. PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I was a lot happier with the driver today and hit it well. I wouldn't think I turned it around -- I think I turned it more around because of the fact I just really played sort of -- lacking sort of a week's practise and that showed the first day. Today I was a little more competitive. Still a couple of shots were just not with it. But you know, should get better as -- hoping it gets better tomorrow and the next day. Q. Do you ever learn about practising before a tournament and that you shouldn't really right up to the edge of a tournament -- PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I'm practising for The Open and it has to be done at some stage. You've got to work on things at some stage and you take your chances that it will be all right. But I couldn't see anything -- Bob couldn't see anything wrong with my swing yesterday. Just a lot of times I was a little bit quick, a little bit snatchy and now it's a little bit more focused than anything else. Doesn't matter how you're swinging it, if your rhythm isn't good you're going to hit some bad shots. Q. Were you bothered by a knee injury this week? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I was struggling. I really didn't think I was going to play. But I strapped it up yesterday and the strapping did a lot of good. But that created its own problem actually. It swelled up at the back of the knee because it was so tight and I didn't have it on today and it was fine all the way up until my second to last hole and walking into some soft ground it twisted and nipped it again. So no more practise. Q. Anything to worry about with regard to this tournament and Carnoustie? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No. The strapping I put yesterday was the first time I did that. This is a niggling problem I get every now and again and the strapping, I'm going to have to get myself just a permanent, like a knee bandage just to have in the bag because when I putt i on, it certainly eased any problem that was there. So I don't see it being a being a problem for the future. Q. Are you thinking of being in contention other than winning? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Actually I'm a bit disappointed actually. The afternoon draw seems to have got the better of the day again. When we were out there expecting the weather to be a little worse for the afternoon, 1-under par wouldn't be too far away from -- you could definitely expect not too many people to be under par in the day to be well in there. But the weather has got better again and I would expect the 5- and 6-unders to move on rather than come back. So I'm a little bit disappointed I'm at the wrong end of the draw. Q. Yesterday touch and go when you got up whether you would play or had you practised? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No. Only when I got up and I couldn't go through all my exercises, stretches and things before. But after it warm up for a while, took some anti-inflammatories and had some treatment on it, and then up until I -- when I put the bandage, when we bandaged it up, it was fine. I didn't think about it. It was good after that. Q. Is it an old injury, football? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No. I just tend to get it every now and again. I just nipped the cartilage. More usually I get it when I'm packing my bunker play because when I push out on my left knee and twist on it at the same time sometimes I can catch it. Normally it goes away really quickly. This has been the worst I've had it. The last four holes of the Pro-Am, I wouldn't -- I couldn't seem to putt properly and I wouldn't have played in that state. I just couldn't -- I would be doing myself harm. So it was good -- as I said it was fine yesterday and I played today without the strapping. Q. Staying away from the range? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, it looks like I won't -- I would have been fine like I said the last two holes but I think it just the soft ground and things moving around. Just a little bit of a twist. Q. You said you were not happy with your driver, did you mean yesterday's driver offer the one with the chip? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: The one I switched to yesterday, the grip was weak and it spun up in the air incredibly. So today I went to the driver that I've been getting ready for The Open. Q. Is that the one with the chip? PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, I went and have a look and I could have used it but still that club was too high so I was back to one short shafted one so I could hit a bit lower with less spin and obviously not running here, but it's the driver I'll be using for the next two weeks. Q. So the one with the chip is -- PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I put a new shaft in. Going to have to do at some stage. End of FastScripts |
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