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IRISH OPEN PRESENTED BY DISCOVER IRELAND

July 28, 2011

Padraig Harrington

KILLARNEY, IRELAND

Q. How do you feel you played today?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Played well. Scored badly.

Q. 2-under under par in the first round in the Irish Open must be disappointing for you, given how much you love the Irish Open?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It's not a great start. I need to play well -- score well from here on in obviously. A lot of work to be done.

Q. It almost seemed that you were going to make four, but just never seemed to get going for you.
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It was going okay in the middle of the round. I holed a few putts there when I had the chances, and you know, made some careless mistakes at times. Just scored poorly.

Q. Mixed reactions to the greens. What's your assessment?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: I felt I putted very well, so I hit some good putts, yeah, no problems.

Q. In terms of the crowd, as well, looking to kind of spur you on, a lot of people following yourself today.
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: It's always nice to have a good crowd and play well in front of them. Hopefully that's what I'll do in the next three days.

Q. What pleased you most today?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: I drove it well and I putted well, but you know, just didn't score well. You know, just one of those things, I'd love to tell you, just didn't seem to be going my way, is all. Such is life. Golf is a strange game, it really is. Holes that I played well, another day you make birdie, I made bogey on. Some days they go for you. Some days they don't.
I just don't think you do too many things right -- I hit a nice 5-iron into 11, and I was trying to go safe into the middle of the green and it's just gone a tiny bit in the wind, pitched to the edge of the green it was kicked 30 yards off the green and I chipped it over. I didn't get on the green. That's how far from hitting a nice shot.
And then I go at the pin on 13 and I pull it a couple of yards and I was in between clubs and again, an unplayable, where I shouldn't have gone and I nearly holed the putt and I 3-putt the next. That's golf and it just happens to go like that.
I hit a good drive up 16 and finish on a downslope. If everything was going for me, I'd still hit a good shot off the downslope. But when things are not going for you, you know, that's the nature. Golf is very much like that, and you just have to -- you know, I'm happy I played well. It's nice, I hit the ball well, and felt pretty much -- you know, I was a bit aggressive at times. I could probably fault that once or twice with a few iron shots, and I certainly -- probably the only shot I tried to play safe was at 11.
Everything else I was pretty much firing at the pins. Maybe once or twice I was a bit aggressive. Maybe I need to be a little bit more patient. It's hard when you're -- I was trotting along there at 1-under par. I was thinking, yeah, I could get myself 4-under here. Obviously turned around very quickly.

Q. You used to be able to glue those rounds together, and shoot 68 rather than an over-par number. Do you know what the cues are that you had then that are missing then?
PÃDRAIG HARRINGTON: Well, if I knew that -- that's obviously not true, either. If I shot 68 every day of my life I would win every tournament, pretty much. So that's not the way it works. I did pretty well at times to make some scores out there, and a few other times, I didn't make the most of it.
As I said, golf is a funny game like that. You get a run where things go for you and it's an easy game, and at the moment I'm certainly fighting it.

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