Win or bust for Harrington in Phoenix: "I want to be doing this when I'm 80"
Padraig Harrington watches his tee shot on the ninth hole during the final round at the 2022 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course) in Bethlehem, Pa. on Sunday, June 26, 2022. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Padraig Harrington believes this week's 72-hole test gives him the best chance of winning the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and winning the season-long Charles Cup Cup and the $1 million bonus.
The Dubliner (51) goes into the final event at 8 pm Irish time tonight trailing points leader Steven Alker of New Zealand by 617,980 points knowing he must win and hope the Kiwi finishes outside the top five to take the Charles Schwab Cup title.
"I know what I have to do, but my side of it to win obviously is pretty clear, but I don't really have any control over Steven's side," Harrington said at Phoenix Country Club. "His top-5 is clear for him.
"Yeah, it would be a bit awkward playing the first day. You never want to be watching somebody else's game and you certainly, when it comes to golf, you're always better off playing with momentum and you want momentum in your group, so you want your playing partner to play well and hole putts. So that's an interesting one that I'll be wishing him well for the first 18 holes just because selfishly, it also helps me play well."
Alker turned 50 in August 2021 and has taken PGA TOUR Champions by storm with five wins in the last 15 months, including four this season.
But Harrington, a three-time winner this season, including the U.S. Senior Open, knows it's win or bust, and the title will be his if Alker finishes no better than a 10-way tie for second.
While most events are 54 holes, the three-time Major winner reckons 72 holes this week does his chances no harm.
"I prefer 72-hole tournaments," Harrington said. "I kind of work on the principle that I had all four majors this year that I played, I had a pretty decent run. Yeah, an extra round is no problem."
The Dubliner's focus on speed and distance over the past 10 years means he is the longest player in the field and that will be a big advantage this week.
He leads PGA TOUR Champions with an average driving distance of 309.1 yards -- longer than the likes of Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau in the recently-completed 2022 PGA TOUR season -- and is third in greens hit (75.5%).
He admits he's not as intense as he once was but still loves to compete and hopes to be doing it for another 30 years.
"I focused on realising that I enjoy playing golf and to make sure that I can continue to enjoy playing professional golf, I've taken out some of the things that probably I didn't like doing or couldn't keep doing,"
he said of the last seven years. "I enjoy my life a little bit more on tour. It's not all about the work. I'm certainly not -- I'm not as intense about the game as I would have been 10, 15 years ago. And that's the nature of the game. When you're younger, you're trying everything to get better, you're full on. I'm not as full on about it as I would have been 15 years ago.
"That's why I was still playing on the regular tour. Out here, you know, a lot of players, as I said, you come here, it's a new lease on life. You're trying to win tournaments, you're hitting great shots under pressure, you're hitting shots and waving to the crowds.
"It reminds you of the good days. Really, that is it. There's an element of when you're winning a tournament, it feels like it used to feel like 20 years ago and that's a nice feeling. It's exciting. You still have to hit the shots under pressure, but you do feel like, you know, it feels like the yesteryears.
"What's not to like about coming to these beautiful, sunny climates and playing golf courses that are prepared as well as they can be for us. We're treated like stars. We remember the good days. What's not to like about that?"
When it comes to golf, Harrington has no doubts about what he wants.
"I want to be doing this when I'm 80," he said.
