Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

abff

Score has just been changed from a bogey to a double bogey. Don't know if that makes it better or worse. Sick as a parrot!

JohnnyLocke

Gutted. He hasn't played badly enough to miss this cut. Just found out he hit his 2nd shot on the par 5 third green side and would have had an easy up and down for birdie but ricocheted off a deck chair someone was sitting and bounced 90 ft right and made bogey.

The penalty on the last is the icing on the cake.

bobwilliams

Sandwlch wrote: »

I would go for physical really. Touch fades at that age, and has for so many top golfers, .

You ever watch the champions tour? Its in the head with Paddy.

BoardsMember

bobwilliams wrote: »

You ever watch the champions tour? Its in the head with Paddy.

No doubt about it

Sandwlch

bobwilliams wrote: »

You ever watch the champions tour? Its in the head with Paddy.

I dont, no. But guess it would probably support my contention : all those you see on it are the ones whose short game didnt collapse in their 40s so they look fine - all those former tour players whose short game did crash, as Padraig's has, of course arent there.

What does 'in the head' mean anyway ? The bad shot popping up at the worst time (the last green, a hole everyone else s birdieing routinely, a left to right player hitting a hook on the one hole OB happens to be on the right, etc) ? Its a moot distinction I think, that gives comfort that fundamentally everything is OK ("hitting the ball as well as ever", "ball striking is really solid", "really played well but just didnt get the breaks", "swing is much more consistent") if he could just 'get his head straight'. But its a delusion. The bottom line is the technique isnt good enough to produce shots of a sufficiently high average level.
On one level it is admirable and a credit to him, and his psychological makeup which did bring him to the top of the world, that he keeps plugging at it. But on another, a little sad seeing someone who achieved so much stumbling along a such a lower level.

bobwilliams

Sandwlch wrote: »

On one level it is admirable and a credit to him, and his psychological makeup which did bring him to the top of the world, that he keeps plugging at it. But on another, a little sad seeing someone who achieved so much stumbling along a such a lower level.

this last bit really explains that you have no idea what you're talking about.

I have a friend struggling on tour in Europe at the moment,a close friend is also a caddy on same.
I have been at many tour events and seen top pros practice for hours and this is what I can tell you.
To say that PH is 'stumbling' etc when he just missed the cut the last few weeks by the odd shot is lunacy.


Do you have any idea how good these guys are?obviously not.

I'm not saying it's all in the head but that's his main problem,lets be honest, he was NEVER a great technician,even when he was winning majors he relied on great scrambling.

SnowDrifts

Bob I think you may have either read that incorrectly or overreacted. SandwIch's comment "a little sad seeing someone who achieved so much stumbling along a such a lower level" to me simply

means Paddy's standard now is lower in comparison to Paddy's standards when he was winning tournaments and majors. That is a fair and accurate comment IMO.

bobwilliams

SnowDrifts wrote: »

Bob I think you may have either read that incorrectly or overreacted. SandwIch's comment "a little sad seeing someone who achieved so much stumbling along a such a lower level" to me simply

means Paddy's standard now is lower in comparison to Paddy's standards when he was winning tournaments and majors. That is a fair and accurate comment IMO.

comment would be fair if he was on the web.com or something imo

Russman

bobwilliams wrote: »

comment would be fair if he was on the web.com or something imo

To suggest PH is anywhere the level he was once at it is crazy. There was a time when, poor long game notwithstanding, he was regularly in the top 10/20 in most big events. Yes it's a fine line with these guys, but we're talking about his form relative to what it was.
We all know how good these guys are, I dare say a lot of us have even been to tour events too.

bobwilliams

Russman wrote: »

To suggest PH is anywhere the level he was once at it is crazy. There was a time when, poor long game notwithstanding, he was regularly in the top 10/20 in most big events. Yes it's a fine line with these guys, but we're talking about his form relative to what it was.
We all know how good these guys are, I dare say a lot of us have even been to tour events too.

no need for the smarmy tone,i was making a point and also I never said he was at the same level as before,i just thought the comments re his drop in form were way ott,i may have over reacted but am a big fan of PH.

Russman

bobwilliams wrote: »

no need for the smarmy tone,i was making a point and also I never said he was at the same level as before,i just thought the comments re his drop in form were way ott,i may have over reacted but am a big fan of PH.

As opposed to suggesting someone doesn't know what they're talking about ?
Anyway, fair enough, point taken.

Most people are fans of PH (I think/hope), it doesn't mean he's not struggling. He clearly is, for whatever reason, we'll probably never know for sure. We can speculate til the cows come home, whether its his head, his swing, the grooves, the putter, all of the above or none of the above. He's obviously still playing at a level most of us will never approach, but he set the bar incredibly high and that's what he's being compared to, rightly or wrongly.

I, as a fan, think it is awful to look at him now missing cut after cut, when you remember the 7 or 8 years up to his majors when he was an almost constant presence on high class leaderboards. In a strange way its almost even worse when making a cut is regarded as a success.

abff

I know this is probably an extreme example of wishful thinking, but is there any chance that Padraig will get an invitation to play in this year's Masters?

JohnnyLocke

abff wrote: »

I know this is probably an extreme example of wishful thinking, but is there any chance that Padraig will get an invitation to play in this year's Masters?

I was wondering that myself.

International players have been invited before.

It states in the qualifying criteria that the committee reserve the right to invite anyone otherwise automatic

newport2

abff wrote: »

I know this is probably an extreme example of wishful thinking, but is there any chance that Padraig will get an invitation to play in this year's Masters?

None. People were saying Els and Monty should get invite when they first didn't qualify, but August a didn't budge.

Russman

Yeah, I think those invites are usually (although not always, I think Woosnam was on an invite when he won) used for up and coming young players from developing golfing countries.

Taking the green tinted glasses off for a second, if you're on the Augusta Committee, what possible reason would there be to invite PH ? There isn't really any in fairness, he's not on a hot run of form that's just a bit too late to make the qualification.

abff

Russman wrote: »

Yeah, I think those invites are usually (although not always, I think Woosnam was on an invite when he won) used for up and coming young players from developing golfing countries.

Taking the green tinted glasses off for a second, if you're on the Augusta Committee, what possible reason would there be to invite PH ? There isn't really any in fairness, he's not on a hot run of form that's just a bit too late to make the qualification.

I agree that it seems unlikely and I note from the previous poster that Els and Monty didn't get invitations when they first failed to qualify.

I guess he'll just have to rely on a hot run of form. His website is saying that he's entered for the next four tournaments on the US tour in the hopes of qualifying for the Masters. Let's hope he can at least put in a couple of decent performances, even if he doesn't do enough to qualify for the Masters.

BoardsMember

I'd be happy to see any progress, a cut or two would do him the world of good. Ideally a good first round, followed by a solid second round where he's not battling on the cut line all day. That would do him the world of good.

newport2

Russman wrote: »

Yeah, I think those invites are usually (although not always, I think Woosnam was on an invite when he won) used for up and coming young players from developing golfing countries.

Taking the green tinted glasses off for a second, if you're on the Augusta Committee, what possible reason would there be to invite PH ? There isn't really any in fairness, he's not on a hot run of form that's just a bit too late to make the qualification.

abff wrote: »

I agree that it seems unlikely and I note from the previous poster that Els and Monty didn't get invitations when they first failed to qualify.

I guess he'll just have to rely on a hot run of form. His website is saying that he's entered for the next four tournaments on the US tour in the hopes of qualifying for the Masters. Let's hope he can at least put in a couple of decent performances, even if he doesn't do enough to qualify for the Masters.

Yeh, like Russman said, it's only really golfers from developing countries, leaders in minor tours, etc who get invites (Woosnam was ranked number 1 in the world when he won, so he didn't need an invite).

Anyway, I agree, apart from my own bias and wanting to see him there, there is absolutely no argument to be made for inviting him really. He just isn't playing well enough at the moment. Glad to see he's playing the next four weeks and doing his utmost to qualify though!

ssbob

No chance they will invite him, the only reason I could possibly think is that he is the ambassador for the R&A. To be honest that's completely grasping at straws because they won't be even inviting McGinley now that he's Ryder Cup captain.

Augusta is only interested in the Augusta brand and no doubt that will involve inviting Ryo Ishikawa yet again because he is so big in Japan.

A New earth

Sad but bookies don't give him much of a chance this week, 150/1. Was c. 50/1 for earlier PGA tournaments.

Dero123

A New earth wrote: »

Sad but bookies don't give him much of a chance this week, 150/1. Was c. 50/1 for earlier PGA tournaments.

Just noticed that was enough to tempt me with €2.50 each way

ssbob

A New earth wrote: »

Sad but bookies don't give him much of a chance this week, 150/1. Was c. 50/1 for earlier PGA tournaments.

Who's entered this week that he is so low down?

A New earth

While the very top lads are not there, almost everybody else who has shown a bit of form is.

Betting headed by English, Spieth, Donald,Kutcher,Rose,Dufner,Simpson,Haas.

Russman

ssbob wrote: »

Who's entered this week that he is so low down?

I think if he was the only one playing, he'd still be 150/1 at this stage. He'd probably withdraw when his left brain went 2 shots down on his right brain with only a few holes to go :D !!

Seriously though, its not the strongest field of the Florida Swing for some reason (pity, because its arguably the best of the 4 courses), so he might make the cut or maybe even finish top 20. Hard to see him beating the likes of English, Speith, Kuchar etc. etc. though. Its unlikely to happen but I'd love to see him just go out and "play" and see what score he shoots.

m r c

He's going to win this week, I haven't had that feeling about him in a really long time.
No bs here lads I predict a big fat W this week the day before "Paddy's" day

sydneybound

+2 after 8 holes, poor start.

abff

sydneybound wrote: »

+2 after 8 holes, poor start.

Missed a 4 footer on the 1st (his 10th) that would have got him back to 1 over.:mad::(

tayto lover

m r c wrote: »

He's going to win this week, I haven't had that feeling about him in a really long time.
No bs here lads I predict a big fat W this week the day before "Paddy's" day

I'm predicting i'll win the lotto :pac:

Dero123

+4 thru 16 and now tied for 126, seems to have missed lots of short putts again.

Dero123

+4 thru 16 and now tied for 126, seems to have missed lots of short putts again.