Rory gets Tiger as Harrington is reunited with Sergio
Padraig Harrington lines ip a putt at TPC Southwind in Memphis on Friday. As Rory McIroy was drawn with Tiger Woods and Adam Scott for the first two rounds of the US Open, Padraig Harrington came off the course at TPC Southwind to learn he’ll be spending at least two days at Merion next week with old enemy Sergio Garcia.
The pair patched up their differences at the 2008 Ryder Cup following some tense moments that saw Harrington come out on top to deny the Spaniard the 2007 Open Championship in a play-off at Carnoustie before taking the 2008 US PGA with a stunning final round putting display at Oakland Hills.
“It certainly has been difficult between me and Sergio,” Harrington xplained nearly five years ago “Things definitely got a little bit tense there, but the Ryder Cup really helped. We spent the week in each other’s company, played a couple of practice matches together and he got to say his piece, things he wanted to say all along.
Friends again? Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia got some closure at the 2008 Ryder Cup and posed together with a panda bear in China shortly afterwards. “Some of the lads eventually drew it out of him and he got to tell me that he really wanted to smash that putter over my head.
“That was what I really wanted to hear and, though the Ryder Cup didn’t do too much for Europe, it did do a lot for me and Sergio.”
Garcia is still searching for that first major while Harrington is searching for the putting magic that helped make his a three-time major winner in the first place.
Now relying on the belly putter for support, the Dubliner holed an 11 footer for birdie at the 16th en route to a level par 70 in the second round of the FedEx St Jude Classic last night to disperse any fears about missing the halfway cut.
The birdie got him back to level par for the day and his one under par total was enough to make the weekend by two strokes, albeit nine shots behind leader Harris English.
As for the US Open tee times, the USGA avoided the temptation to group Garcia and Woods following their recent feud.
That pleasure now falls to McIlroy, who is drawn with Woods for the first time in a major.
He tweeted, “Decent group for the first 2 rounds at Merion I see….”
Statistically, Woods has had the upper hand in their encounters. Paired 12 times so far - 7 on PGA Tour, 5 European Tour - Woods has outscored McIlroy nine times.
US Open Championship, Merion, Tee times
Thursday (June 13), hole #1 and Friday (June 14), hole #11
6:45 a.m 12:45 p.m Cliff Kresge, Heathrow, Fla.; Roger Tambellini, Scottsdale, Ariz.; TBD
6:56 a.m 12:56 p.m TBD; Yui Ueda, Japan; John Parry, England
7:07 a.m 1:07 p.m Nick Watney, Henderson, Nev.; Peter Hanson, Sweden; Hunter Mahan, Dallas, Texas
7:18 a.m 1:18 p.m Lucas Glover, Sea Island, Ga.; Paul Casey, England; Bill Haas, Greenville, S.C.
7:29 a.m 1:29 p.m Aaron Baddeley, Australia; Rory Sabbatini, South Africa; David Lingmerth, Sweden
7:40 a.m 1:40 p.m.– George Coetzee, South Africa; Martin Laird, Scotland; Marcel Siem, Germany
7:51 a.m 1:51 p.m .– Jerry Kelly, Madison, Wis.; Charley Hoffman, San Diego, Calif.; John Huh, Lewisville, Texas
8:02 a.m 2:02 p.m Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Ryan Moore, Las Vegas, Nev.; Robert Garrigus, Phoenix, Ariz.
8:13 a.m 2:13 p.m TBD; Simon Khan, England; Ted Potter Jr., Silver Springs, Fla.
8:24 a.m 2:24 p.m Shawn Stefani, Baytown, Texas; a-Michael Kim, Del Mar, Calif.; Nicholas Thompson, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
8:35 a.m 2:35 p.m Chris Doak, Scotland; Andrew Svoboda, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Douglas LaBelle II, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
8:46 a.m 2:46 p.m Kevin Sutherland, Sacramento, Calif.; Matt Weibring, Dallas, Texas; Randall Hutchison, Traverse City, Mich.
8:57 a.m 2:57 p.m a-Cory McElyea, Santa Cruz, Calif.; Ryan Nelson, Charleston, S.C.; John Hahn, Hudson, Ohio
Thursday (June 13), hole #11 and Friday (June 14), hole #1
7 a.m 12:30 p.m Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla.; Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium
7:11 a.m 12:41 p.m Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.; Keegan Bradley, Woodstock, Vt.
7:22 a.m 12:52 p.m Matt Kuchar, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Justin Rose, England; Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.
7:33 a.m 1:03 p.m Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Tim Clark, Scottsdale, Ariz.
7:44 a.m 1:14 p.m Sergio Garcia, Spain; Stewart Cink, Duluth, Ga.; Padraig Harrington, Republic of Ireland
7:55 a.m 1:25 p.m Ian Poulter, England; Jason Dufner, Auburn, Ala.; Boo Weekley, Jay, Fla.
8:06 a.m 1:36 p.m Rickie Fowler, Jupiter, Fla.; Matteo Manassero, Italy; Jason Day, Australia
8:17 a.m 1:47 p.m Y.E. Yang, Republic of Korea; Fredrik Jacobson, Sweden; Hiroyuki Fujita, Japan
8:28 a.m 1:58 p.m Scott Stallings, Knoxville, Tenn.; John Peterson, Baton Rouge, La.; Robert Karlsson, Sweden
8:39 a.m 2:09 p.m Jay Don Blake, St. George, Utah; Brandt Jobe, Argyle, Texas; Michael Campbell, New Zealand
8:50 a.m 2:20 p.m David Hearn, Canada; TBD; Jaco Van Zyl, South Africa
9:01 a.m 2:31 p.m a-Kevin Phelan, Republic of Ireland; Wil Collins, Rapid City, S.D.; TBD
9:12 a.m 2:42 p.m .– a-Cheng-Tsung Pan, Chinese Taipei; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada; Geoffrey Sisk, Marshfield, Mass.
Thursday (June 13), hole #1 and Friday (June 14), hole #11
12:30 p.m 7 a.m David Toms, Shreveport, La.; Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland; Jose Maria Olazabal, Spain
12:41 p.m 7:11 a.m Geoff Ogilvy, Australia; Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Paul Lawrie, Scotland
12:52 p.m 7:22 a.m Luke Donald, England; Lee Westwood, England; Martin Kaymer, Germany
1:03 p.m 7:33 a.m Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1:14 p.m 7:44 a.m Tiger Woods, Hobe Sound, Fla.; Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Adam Scott, Australia
1:25 p.m 7:55 a.m Thongchai Jaidee, Thailand; Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Spain; Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark
1:36 p.m 8:06 a.m Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.; a-Steven Fox, Hendersonville, Tenn.; Ernie Els, South Africa
1:47 p.m 8:17 a.m TBD; Joe Ogilvie, Austin, Texas; Luke Guthrie, Quincy, Ill.
1:58 p.m 8:28 a.m Josh Teater, Lexington, Ky.; Yoshinobu Tsukada, Japan; Eddie Pepperell, England
2:09 p.m 8:39 a.m Edward Loar, Dallas, Texas; Morten Orum Madsen, Denmark; Jung-Gon Hwang, Republic of Korea
2:20 p.m 8:50 a.m a-Max Homa, Valencia, Calif.; Russell Knox, Scotland; Matt Bettencourt, Spartanburg, S.C.
2:31 p.m 9:01 a.m Adam Hadwin, Canada; John Nieporte, Boca Raton, Fla.; Jim Herman, Palm City, Fla.
2:42 p.m 9:12 a.m Brandon Brown, Shelbyville, Ky.; a-Grayson Murray, Raleigh, N.C.; Jesse Smith, Barrington, N.H.
Thursday (June 13), hole #11 and Friday (June 14), hole #1
12:45 p.m 6:45 a.m Justin Hicks, Wyandotte, Mich.; David Howell, England; Brian Stuard, Jackson, Mich.
12:56 p.m 6:56 a.m Brendan Steele, Irvine, Calif.; Estanislao Goya, Argentina; Peter Hedblom, England
1:07 p.m 7:07 a.m Marc Leishman, Australia; John Senden, Australia; Marcus Fraser, Australia
1:18 p.m 7:18 a.m Scott Langley, Manchester, Mo.; a-Chris Williams, Moscow, Idaho; Morgan Hoffmann, Jupiter, Fla.
1:29 p.m 7:29 a.m Michael Thompson, Birmingham, Ala.; a-Michael Weaver, Fresno, Calif.; Casey Wittenberg, Memphis, Tenn.
1:40 p.m 7:40 a.m K.J. Choi, Republic of Korea; Francesco Molinari, Italy; Carl Pettersson, Sweden
1:51 p.m 7:51 a.m Scott Piercy, Las Vegas, Nev.; Kevin Chappell, Fresno, Calif.; Jamie Donaldson, Wales
2:02 p.m 8:02 a.m Bo Van Pelt, Tulsa, Okla.; Kevin Streelman, Scottsdale, Ariz.; D.A. Points, Windermere, Fla.
2:13 p.m 8:13 a.m Branden Grace, South Africa; Sang-Moon Bae, Republic of Korea; Russell Henley, Macon, Ga.
2:24 p.m 8:24 a.m Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Billy Horschel, Jacksonsville, Fla.; Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas
2:35 p.m 8:35 a.m Mathew Goggin, Australia; Steven Alker, New Zealand; Alistair Presnell, Australia
2:46 p.m 8:46 a.m Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich.; a-Gavin Hall, Pittsford, N.Y.; Bio Kim, Republic of Korea
2:57 p.m 8:57 a.m Zack Fischer, Wake Village, Texas; Ryan Sullivan, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Brandon Crick, McCook, Neb.