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3 IRISH OPEN

July 31, 2010

Padraig Harrington

KILLARNEY, IRELAND

Q. Okay. Another very eventful day on the golf course?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I'm happy to still be in the tournament and actually gain some on the lead. A few mistakes here and there, he plenty of potential in it and just maybe need to trust with it not trying as hard.

Q. You were happy with the way you were swinging it; something changed?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Just a little bit of confidence, that's all. Drove it great the first day and obviously didn't drive it great yesterday but I am I'm actually -- if I don't hit the fairway, it's okay. I'm just not trusting it enough.

Q. What was it like with the crowd?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It was nice. There is great support out there and I suppose as long as you're holing the putts, it feels good, certainly I'm delivering on that end of things and hopefully I'll play well and keep holing the putts tomorrow.

Q. What do you think about your position in the championship now with one round to go?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Looked like I was all out of it after the 8th hole when I double-bogeyed. So I have got to feel reasonably good about things, having shot 69. I still have a few players between me and the lead but this is the sort of golf course -- if I play well and get in good position, I think it's possible to catch anybody out there.
At times, it felt a little bit like yesterday. I'm happy with the score -- especially when I double-bogeyed the 8th hole and looked like I was out of the tournament and everybody else looked like they were going forward.

Q. You're still there or thereabouts. What are your chances tomorrow?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Still there. You know, I'm still in with a shout. I could have done some damage today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get into position a bit better and a little bit more faith, a little bit more trust off the tee and I had played well there, certainly the rest of the game seems to be fine.

Q. And the atmosphere out there, electric?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It is fantastic. I've holed enough putts and done enough things to keep the buzz going, so it's nice to play under those circumstances.

Q. Events over the last five minutes, you are very much back in the tournaments.
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Looked like I was out of tournament when I double-bogeyed the 8th and I was going back while other people were going forward. I played nicely after that. Certainly to come home with no bogeys and two birdies is quite pleasing, finished up really with my best shot of the day at 18 and holed the putt. On the back of that, I feel good going into tomorrow.

Q. Is it a matter of patience?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Saturday is normally moving day and we are all trying to be aggressive. As I said, I was doing that early on and I made three birdies early on. The double bogey was a bit rough for me at that stage and then, you know, maybe the next three or four holes, it wasn't a case of trying to survive a little bit. And once I got through that and made birdie on 14, I was looking at making a few more coming home.

Q. A couple of nice birdies on the back nine, a couple of amazing saves, as well. To turn in a 69 today, how satisfying is that given the conditions?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It's very satisfying. Obviously the bogey and the double bogey that I had on the front nine were disappointing, but I certainly saved a few pars on the way home, and that's obviously kept the round together.
Definitely was a tougher day. The rest of the golf course, sometimes it was difficult determining the direction and determining whether -- how much the wind would affect really and so it was kind of two contrasting areas of the course.

Q. How do you feel about the quality of your striking and your overall game today?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: I could do with a little bit more faith and trust off the tee. I know I'm swinging it well and hitting it well. It's just a question of trusting it a bit more. The fairways do look very narrow to me. They are 50 per cent narrower than what I am used to playing in the States, so it is a little bit daunting at times but I have to trust it a little bit.

Q. You keep that average of 68 that we spoke yesterday, and it might do you if it's like this tomorrow; do you think 12-under could be the winning score if the weather stays like this?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: I think it would be long odds for 12-under to win around here. It's a possibility but realistically, you have to be thinking 15-under par, something like that, to give it a good run.

Q. 65 for you tomorrow --
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Right. You've done your math, I see you went to school all right. (Laughter).

Q. Do you feel like getting more comfortable --
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: There's two ways of looking at things. You can have a player playing very well tee-to-green and not putting well, and if he stays patient and waits for his good week on the greens, he'll win. You can have a situation like that's kind of the way I've been. Obviously I'm putting well this week and to be honest with the week I've on the greens I should be ahead at this stage. I hope that I'll hit it good tomorrow. I know I am. I know it's in there. There's plenty of potential in there. As I said, I've been hitting it great in practise. I just have to maybe ease up a bit tomorrow and let it all happen.

Q. Is that the best way -- you figure just go out and play your golf?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: That's the way I will approach it, a figure can be very limiting, if you're trying to shoot 6-under par and you're 7-under after nine, do you try and back off on the back nine? You just try and shoot the lowest score you can, and be aggressive as often as you can. But also, you know, taper that where it's not suitable to be aggressive.

Q. Paul McGinley was asked the venue itself after three days of competitive play, and he said he absolutely loves it and that we could have an absolutely cracking finish.
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Paul McGinley is a very straight hitter, he would wish for that. These fairways are a good 50 per cent narrower than what we see in the States, and so you know, that's obviously what Paul wants. I would widen the fairways and I probably have the rough heavier but the fairways are incredibly narrow a lot of the times, as I said, so it's actually quite a few of them, when the wind is blowing and the ball is running, with a little bit of slope, it's very nearly impossible to hit them. At least that's the way I feel about it, so there's always different opinions, but the rough would definitely be -- when you put in heavier rough, these fairways would be narrower than a U.S. Open, much narrower.

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