Harrington leaves himself work to do after missed opportunity in US Senior Open defence
Padraig Harrington tees off on the fifth hole during the second round of the 2023 U.S. Senior Open at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis. on Friday, June 30, 2023. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
Padraig Harrington admits he became "a bit blasé" in a second-round 71 as he failed to close the gap on the leaders in his US Senior Open defence at SentryWorld in Wisconsin.
The Dubliner (51) recovered from an early bogey at the third with birdies at the fifth, eighth and 10th, where he missed a 12-footer for an eagle.
But he lost concentration and followed a bogey at the 11th with a double bogey five at the 12th, where he found a pond with his tee shot.
And while he birdied the par-five 14th, he missed several chances coming home and had to make a 10-footer for par at the last to finish where he started the day on three over.
He's tied 12th with Darren Clarke, who shot 70, six shots behind 65-year-old Bernhard Langer, who shot a three-under 68 to lead by a shot from Australia's Rod Pampling on three-under.
Langer is bidding to become the oldest winner of the title, but Harrington hopes organisers stretch out the course to the maximum over the weekend.
"Course got very short, really," Harrington said. "Really short and tricky. The rough has disappeared. It's all gone. So it's just bouncy and tricky. Yeah, very, very awkward. "So, still a low one out there, but it's tricky for sure. It's just got very fast."
Harrington was out of sorts on day one after his first Champions Tour win of the season in New York last weekend.
But after recharging by avoiding the range on Thursday night and taking his family to the new Indiana Jones movie, he knows he will have to be at his best to chase down the leaders and achieve the Holy Grail of a successful title defence.
"Again, it's just getting the ball in play off the tee," he said. "It got so short. The ball is really, really moving when it was warm out there. So if you hit the fairways, you're going to do very nicely."
He added: "I would think you can make up ground on the golf course, yes. You know, I was doing nicely today, and I fell asleep on 11 and 12, and all of a sudden, those three shots are going to be a lot to make up.
"You know, there were two pretty easy holes that if you walk off with two pars, all of a sudden, level par. I missed a few putts coming in, even though I holed the one on the last.
"So I could have made some hay today, but, you know, I was a lot better than I was yesterday, that's for sure. My head was in the right place. I wasn't racing as much today. So it was a good day."
He dismissed Indiana Jones as the reason for his improved play and put it down to a reaction to retaining the Dick's Sporting Goods Open last Sunday.
"No, it's just you get the odd day like that," he said. "I'm pretty disciplined about how I eat and how I go about things and hydration. I don't think it was any of those.
"It was just more to do with winning last week, and just you get days like that where you're just a little bit off your game, and you've got to make the most of it.
|Today I was better, and I suspect I'll be better the next couple days."
As for bridging the gap on the leaders, he believes he can close it.
"No, no. As I said, those two holes, 11 and 12, I had just made a couple birdies, so I do that sometimes. I was a bit blasé about them.
"Those three shots, like if I was level par, I would be sitting here saying I'm in a really good position, not where I want to be, but certainly in it. Yeah, holed a nice 10-footer on the last, so that's something."
Langer, who turns 66 in 57 days, put himself in position to become the oldest champion – by eight years.
"It's fabulous, yeah," Harrington said of the German maestro. “Obviously, the golf course got short, so it wasn't so bad. The tees were up, and the fairways got firm.
"Be interesting to see -- I assume we're meant to be playing the back tees at the weekend. I certainly would hope. As I said, it really is short now. Hard to get a driver in your hand at all now at this stage.
"No matter what it is, you're better off on the fairway. As I said, the rough has got trampled down for some reason. I don't know how it has, but the rough isn't anywhere as penal as it was at the start of the week. We'll see."
Retief Goosen, Dicky Pride and Wisconsin's Jerry Kelly are tied for third on one-under-par, with Steve Stricker, who is chasing his third senior major win this year, tied for sixth with Ernie Els on level par.
