TOUR NEWS:WORKING ON the slow burner principle, you've got to figure that Pádraig Harrington – who has slipped to 13th in the latest official world rankings – will ignite soon. So far, the Dubliner's start to the season has been average, in terms of performance, with much of the blame apparently on a "cold putter" that has made it difficult for the triple-major champion to find his share of birdies.
With the season’s first major, the US Masters at Augusta looming next month, Harrington will hope he can discover some scoring form in this week’s WGC-CA Championship over the Blue Monster course at Doral in Miami.
Rory McIlroy, now the only Irish player inside the world’s top 10 in ninth position, and Graeme McDowell, who occupies 50th position after a performance in the Honda Classic that promised far more than it finally delivered, are also in the limited-field, no-cut championship this week where Phil Mickelson is the defending champion.
Only two of the world’s top 50 are not competing, world number one Tiger Woods – still on his “indefinite break” from the sport, but touted possibly to return at Bay Hill in a fortnight’s time, and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, who is graduating from secondary school this week before joining the circuit on a full-time basis.
Harrington’s inauspicious start to the season has seen him miss the cut in the Los Angeles Open, finish tied-16th in the Pebble Beach pro-am, lose in the first round of the Accenture Matchplay and finish tied-40th on his reappearance in the Honda Classic where his swing – benefiting from a couple of days work with coach Bob Torrance the previous week – held up, but his problems with the putter continued to cause angst.
Indeed, Harrington’s putting statistics from his initial forays on to the tour don’t make for pleasant analysis: he is ranked 182nd on the PGA Tour in putting averages, and 180th in birdies (averaging just .7 per round). The old adage of driving for show and putting for dough springs to mind, but Harrington – who also spent a considerable amount of time with his psychologist Bob Rotella this past week – is convinced his game is ready to deliver its just rewards.
Harrington’s run-up to the Masters takes in this week’s WGC-CA before a week’s break is followed by appearances in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and the Shell Houston Open.
Although all three Irish players in the field at the Honda made the cut, it was a lost opportunity over the weekend for McDowell who was only a shot off the lead with 37 holes remaining. After incurring that two-shot penalty on the 18th hole of his second round on Friday, the Ulsterman fell away badly over the weekend to eventually finish in tied-31st after he dropped six shots in his final six holes, including a quadruple-bogey on the 17th in Sunday’s final round.
McDowell, though, didn’t carry any mental baggage with him on the journey from the Honda to the big money event in Doral. “It was a very costly end to my tournament,” said McDowell of the dropped shots on Sunday night. “I’d a good opportunity to move up the (world) rankings but unfortunately the Bear Trap had a say in that. But that is not to say I am not playing well . . . I have been playing well for a few months now, although my results may not suggest that. I am very close to where I want to be, and very close to getting a big result.”
The field for Doral was finalised after the Honda, with JB Holmes claiming the last invite based on occupying 10th position on the current FedEx Cup standings. Ian Poulter, who had a breakthrough win in the US when claiming the Accenture Matchplay two weeks ago, is part of a strong European contingent that also includes his fellow-Englishmen Lee Westwood and Paul Casey.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Heggarty and Denis O’Sullivan are the only Irish players in the Thailand Masters as the European Seniors Tour works its way through its early-season travels in the Far East.
