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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 8, 2008

Padraig Harrington

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN

Q. Sum up the day out there today, please, if you could, and the situation off two rounds.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I have or I did or I just run out of steam. It was a struggle for me. I did my best to be ready for the week but clearly I'm not. What can I say. The harder I tried the worse it got. I haven't got the focus this week. I'm just not with it. Obviously I'm still just having a hangover after winning The Open.

Q. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You would love to try and go with the flow and that's what you try and do and you try and the harder you try the worse you make it. Certainly that was the case for me.
You know, when you're just not mentally strong it's hard to stop your mind from wandering away and that's what my mind was doing. As I said, I said it yesterday and again today, just not -- I thought I was ready coming in, but I'm not. I don't have the focus and that's clearly sign of being mentally fatigued.

Q. Did you phone Bob Rotella last night?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, it's not a -- it's not -- you know, I could give you all the teachings in the world about what you should do. I just can't do it. I'm just losing my focus and just can't keep my mind quiet. And that's, as I say, that's a sign of mental fatigue, when you get a very rushed blurring mind. There was no calmness there at all. So it's just one big struggle, it was. Couldn't get off the course quick enough.

Q. Can you turn it around the weekend?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I assume. Why wouldn't I be playing the weekend?

Q. I don't know where it's going to go.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I think I'll be well in the field. So I would love to think I could do something. And I was hoping I could today. I was I was hoping I could yesterday. I had a plan coming out today. I had a plan in my mind practicing a couple different things of what to do. But I think I need to spend 24 hours in bed now. I would love to say I was -- I don't know. I really don't. The worst thing you can have is a struggle with your focus. It's tough to play like that.
After 36 holes, with 36 to go, maybe, I'm trying, anyway. And you can see, you can see when I'm struggling to hold my attention and focus and that's a sign that your tired. And, yeah, maybe overnight I'll be better tomorrow. Who knows.

Q. With the exception of the situation, does it make it easier for you to go out there?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I've seen it before. I've seen it before. I would love to tell you that the best way around this is to go out there and beat balls all afternoon, which I have done in the past, and beat myself up, but, no, I know that, it's outside my control. Simple as that.

Q. If you lower your expectations do you think that would help?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: That would certainly be -- that would be certainly one of the things to do, is to, if you could, but I've been telling myself that out on the golf course that I was telling myself all day that there's another 36 holes for the weekend and there's plenty of golf left to turn it around, just be patient. And you can say that all you like, before you stand over the ball, but when you stand over it and you can't get your mind to settle at all, you know, it's tough.

Q. Any shots today that you lost out there?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: There's lots of them out there. I think that when I 3-putted 1 and 3-putted the second, for par. And then 3-putted the next. And that was the big thing there. I hit it all over the place after that. There was no ability to make my shots or make anything happen. I kept changing my mind mid swing and that's why I hit some really bad shots at the end. I've seen it before, I've done it before. And I'm quite happy with the consequences of winning The Open if this is it. I realize that it takes a lot to come back and try and perform in a Major two weeks after winning one. Maybe they're a bit too close.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, no, I know I'll be trying to help myself tomorrow. But I would be more hopeful that, and confident, let's say, you know, there's no problem with my game, but yet why there was some wild shots at the end there and that's -- you know, I said if you get, if you're holing putts and you get a bit of confidence there, I could go on run. So I am hopeful that things will turn around for the weekend and I don't think I'll be there far out of the tournament, with two good scores on the weekend, it might get me back in and we'll just have to wait and see.

Q. Padraig, the Olympics start tonight. Conceivably if you could play some day as a professional in the Olympics would a gold medal representing your country --
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I always said that it's a big deal in Ireland to compete in the Olympics. I would love to be an Olympic athlete. Would that be nice as a golfer to be called an Olympic athlete? Yeah, I would love to win, I would love to play golf. It would be a big deal to me and I would be very proud to do it.

Q. As pig as a Major?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I think it would take time. You know. Majors, some of these Majors have taken time too. 50 years ago the Western Open I think was a major, so things change and maybe the Olympics in 50 years or a hundred years would be the fifth Major. It wouldn't be at the moment. We have our four Majors, but anything takes time to build. But I would be very proud to compete in the Olympics and we all watch it on TV, it's one of the things that we, you know, you just aspire to as a kid and certainly in Ireland it was a big deal.

Q. What was your favorite sport watching as a kid?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I would watch them all. But probably make the biggest effort to get in for the -- obviously the 100 meters in terms of excitement. But we had a few athletes who were decent enough in the middle distance races so whichever race Ireland was in any way competitive.

Q. (Inaudible.)
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I certainly struggled with the two weeks. I thought I was ready coming in this week and I'm clearly not. So, yeah, next year, I'll have another go. If I win The Open for the third time I'll have another go of trying to prepare myself for the PGA and it will be a nice challenge.

End of FastScripts

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