Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

gary29428 · 10-06-2011 7:54pm

OK, so he's playing rubbish at the moment, I hope he can turn it around but for the love of GOD, I'd wish he'd shut the FCUK up. I've lost count of the interviews he has done peddling the same oul c**p, I'm delighted with my game, I'm close to a win, things are coming togther nicely. He's for the birds, his head is on Mars. God help us when you see that gimpey grim you'd wonder if there is anyone home.... That said, the golfing world is a less interesting place when he's off the scene with the way he's been playing.

KKmanok · 10-06-2011 8:08pm

Martin567 wrote: »

He's been very inconsistent the last two years, no doubt about that. I still think you're being sensationalist though. Re the stats you've mentioned above, that's just how professional golf is, ups and downs. He's been very consistent for the past decade, spending at least 70% of that time in the Top 10. I think he's one of only 6 players who was ever-present in the Top 50 from 2000-2010. Lee Westwood dropped out of the top 200. Look at Sergio Garcia & Henrik Stenson, both Top 10 quite recently. Retief Goosen & Ernie Els are both a long way from their best. Paul Casey is having a terrible year. These things happen.

Maybe Padraig will find his best form again, maybe he won't. Either way, there's nothing terribly unusual about his current position. It's happened to lots of players before him and will happen to many in the future also.

Martin I think I agree with the point your making - Goosen and Els are finished as top players, both hit their forties and their form dropped same could be said of VJ, all had great careers but will never get back to where they were - I just hoped it wouldn't happen to Paddy yet but alas the last year has suggested it has - hope he can turn it around. Westwoods dip and resurgance at an early age is exceptional not the usual btw his short game will ensure he will win nothing of significance imo, Like many of the other Brits Casey et al are not in Paddies league cos they have won F all of significance

LuckyGent88 · 10-06-2011 8:24pm

KKmanok wrote: »

Martin I think I agree with the point your making - Goosen and Els are finished as top players, both hit their forties and their form dropped same could be said of VJ, all had great careers but will never get back to where they were - I just hoped it wouldn't happen to Paddy yet but alas the last year has suggested it has - hope he can turn it around. Westwoods dip and resurgance at an early age is exceptional not the usual btw his short game will ensure he will win nothing of significance imo, Like many of the other Brits Casey et al are not in Paddies league cos they have won F all of significance

1. Most wins of any player in history over 40 years of age and he also became world number 1 in his forties.

2. He has won the PGA Championship at Wentworth, 2 world matchplay titles and 2 Abu Dhabi championships which always have quality fields.

bigtimecharlie · 10-06-2011 8:42pm

If anything, a few extra day's to prepare for US open but can't see him doing anything next week either.

KKmanok · 10-06-2011 8:45pm

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

1. Most wins of any player in history over 40 years of age and he also became world number 1 in his forties.

2. He has won the PGA Championship at Wentworth, 2 world matchplay titles and 2 Abu Dhabi championships which always have quality fields.

Just the calify - When talking about not being in PH class I was referring to Casey and his other current crop of British players (read my post again)I was not talking about Ernie who is one of the greats.

Aidric · 10-06-2011 9:41pm

KKmanok wrote: »

Goosen and Els are finished as top players, both hit their forties and their form dropped

Lol, stop taking shít. Els had 3 wins last year alone. Himself and Goosen are ranked 22nd & 28th in the world respectively.

L.O.F.T · 10-06-2011 10:02pm

Aidric wrote: »

Lol, stop taking shít. Els had 3 wins last year alone. Himself and Goosen are ranked 22nd & 28th in the world respectively.

+1. Its getting harder and harder these days to sift through the scutter being posted lately.

bigtimecharlie · 10-06-2011 10:17pm

+2 is now making the cut. Lucky boy.

Sandwlch · 10-06-2011 10:24pm

gary29428 wrote: »

OK, so he's playing rubbish at the moment, I hope he can turn it around but for the love of GOD, I'd wish he'd shut the FCUK up. I've lost count of the interviews he has done peddling the same oul c**p, I'm delighted with my game, I'm close to a win, things are coming togther nicely. He's for the birds, his head is on Mars. God help us when you see that gimpey grim you'd wonder if there is anyone home.... That said, the golfing world is a less interesting place when he's off the scene with the way he's been playing.

Good post. So true. I watch him just waiting for him to interrupt himself some day and say - with the chirpy grin - "Ah sh!t, what the phek am I saying. Thats a load of bull isnt it? I'm playing crap. Probably never going to get it back now. Shouldnt have tampered with my swing two years ago. Ah well."

Martin567 · 10-06-2011 10:43pm

L.O.F.T wrote: »

+1. Its getting harder and harder these days to sift through the scutter being posted lately.

If that's the case, you shouldn't add to it.

Els had a great year last year but that was last year. It's obviously escaped your notice that he has not had a single Top 10 finish in 2011. Harrington, who is a figure of ridicule for some on here, has had 3. Goosen has had 1.

It's interesting that Aidric is so impressed by Els & Goosen's rankings of 22 & 28 respectively. There is so little between No 20 & No 70 in the rankings that one good week in a big event can lead to a jump of at least 50 places in the rankings. Ernie won't be in the Top 50 in a little while based on his current form. Some people here were ridiculing Harrington at the time of his Ryder Cup selection last year when he was ranked 19, higher than Els & Goosen's current rankings.

Aidric · 10-06-2011 10:55pm

Martin567 wrote: »

It's interesting that Aidric is so impressed by Els & Goosen's rankings of 22 & 28 respectively. There is so little between No 20 & No 70 in the rankings that one good week in a big event can lead to a jump of at least 50 places in the rankings. Ernie won't be in the Top 50 in a little while based on his current form. Some people here were ridiculing Harrington at the time of his Ryder Cup selection last year when he was ranked 19, higher than Els & Goosen's current rankings.

The difference being that I feel Els or Goosen are much more likely to turn it round than Harrington. His head is gone.

LuckyGent88 · 10-06-2011 10:55pm

KKmanok wrote: »

Just the calify - When talking about not being in PH class I was referring to Casey and his other current crop of British players (read my post again)I was not talking about Ernie who is one of the greats.

noting wrong with my reading man. So Casey,Westwood and Donald arent as class as golfer as Paddy? Would you go way to fcuk. The fact that they dont have majors yet doesnt mean they arent as good as PH. I highlighted the fact you said VJ's form dropped in his forties not Ernies.

I have no doubt PH will get his form back but he needs to sort himself out in a lot of places. One of the main places is stop talking BS about the state of his game and start being honest like Gmac.

Martin567 · 10-06-2011 11:06pm

Aidric wrote: »

The difference being that I feel Els or Goosen are much more likely to turn it round than Harrington. His head is gone.

That's fair enough, we can agree to disagree. Just so long as we're clear that your earlier comments are just based on a feeling.

My "feeling" is that Goosen is the least likely of the three to ever achieve anything really big again. He has gone the longest period without doing anything significant and seems to have settled into a groove several levels below his former best. His form is actually relatively consistent just not really threatening anymore. He has the odd brilliant round but usually falls right away the next day.

Of course I could be completely wrong and he might win the US Open next week!

Martin567 · 10-06-2011 11:13pm

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

noting wrong with my reading man. So Casey,Westwood and Donald arent as class as golfer as Paddy? Would you go way to fcuk. The fact that they dont have majors yet doesnt mean they arent as good as PH. I highlighted the fact you said VJ's form dropped in his forties not Ernies.

I have no doubt PH will get his form back but he needs to sort himself out in a lot of places. One of the main places is stop talking BS about the state of his game and start being honest like Gmac.

Obviously Westwood & Donald are well ahead of Harrington at the moment in the rankings. On their entire careers though, they are far behind Harrington. 3 Majors can't be argued with. The fact is Harrington played his best golf when it really mattered on the back nine on Sunday in the Majors. None of the others have done that yet. Therefore, on a career basis, they are well behind him.

As for Gmac, this day last week I heard him saying how happy he was with all aspects of his game. The following day he shot 81. Sometimes it's probably better not to talk at all.

Sean Bateman · 12-06-2011 12:22am

Maybe now's not the time for Padraig to have his brother in law on the bag? Maybe instead of sycophantic yes man, he should hire someone who'll challenge him and tell him to cop the f..k on?

And don't give me the "he's won his Majors with Ronan on the bag" argument...maybe he'd have won more with a professional caddie like Billy Foster on the bag?

Aidric · 12-06-2011 8:02am

Sean Bateman wrote: »

Maybe now's not the time for Padraig to have his brother in law on the bag? Maybe instead of sycophantic yes man, he should hire someone who'll challenge him and tell him to cop the f..k on?

And don't give me the "he's won his Majors with Ronan on the bag" argument...maybe he'd have won more with a professional caddie like Billy Foster on the bag?

A fair few people on here, myself included, have been making that point.

Another poor round again yesterday. In this form I'll be backing him to miss the cut at the US Open next week.

MungoMan · 12-06-2011 9:48am

Nobody except Paddy knows if his caddy is the right man for him.....one would hope that Paddy will know when the right time to get a new caddy is (if ever).

Perhaps his caddy is doing a fantastic job, maybe PH is very comfortable with him.

A lot of people are expressing their frustration about Paddys positive comments in light of his drop in form.
Clearly the guy is very positive, and indeed he may well be on the verge of finding some great form again.
Regardless of his form, being positive will result in lower scores than being negative......nothing wrong with a positive mental attitude......if you think you are on the verge of doing something great again, then it might just happen.

Dr.Silly · 12-06-2011 11:59am

Such a load of nonsense.
It's clear that his frame of mind is messed up big time.
How can you possibly say you're happy with your game over and over again and have such dismal results, AND STILL BE HAPPY.
I believe this is the end of the road for harrington. His form of previous years ain't coming back.

Jul3s · 12-06-2011 1:49pm

rednik wrote: »

He's given us quite a few years of great golf and in that time he remained in the top 10 or just outside. I hope he gets it together but being realistic it's going to be very hard for him.

Yea he's finished for sure.

k.p.h · 12-06-2011 5:19pm

Here I have a comparison of Paddys Stats with 2011 on the left and 2007 on the right

Approaches from > 200 yards 53' 8" 49' 3"
Scrambling from > 30 yards 37.14% 33.96%
GIR Percentage - 100-125 yards 72.73% 67.44%
GIR Percentage - 75-100 yards 61.54% 74.29%
GIR Percentage - < 75 yards 82.7% 87.80%
GIR Percentage - 200+ yards 48.33% 40.35%
GIR Percentage - 175-200 yards 51.56% 53.52%
GIR Percentage - 150-175 yards 69.33% 54.71%
GIR Percentage - 125-150 yards 72.13% 68.92%
GIR Percentage - < 125 yards 75.00% 78.69%
GIR Percentage - < 100 yards 76.19% 84.81%
Approaches from 100-125 yards 20' 8" 20' 9"
Approaches from 75-100 yards 17' 4" 16' 1"
Approaches from 50-75 yards 12' 10" 7' 9"
Approaches from 175-200 yards 32' 5" 28' 3"
Approaches from 150-175 yards 28' 4" 29' 5"
Approaches from 125-150 yards 20' 0" 25' 7"
Approaches from 50-125 yards 18' 0" 17' 7"
Approaches from 200-225 yards 35' 6" 41' 9"
Approaches from 225-250 yards 48' 10" 49' 0"
Approaches from > 275 yards 127' 8" 88' 1"
Approaches from 250-275 yards 85' 0" 69' 9"

Driving Distance 292.3 293.2
Driving Accuracy Percentage 51.52% 57.52%
Greens in Regulation Percentage 64.53% 60.30%

I still think no matter what anyone says that his 2007/08 game was maximized to win what he did. His current stats are so close to his early swing stats that it's no surprise that he thinks it's in good stead, He won three majors with the last swing that performed like(marginally better) this. I often take the piss out of him too but those who write him off here are so off the mark it's not funny.

He still has the best parts of his game in tact as he always had. His attitude and work ethic. I believe he will definitely go on to add to his 26 profession wins.

k.p.h · 12-06-2011 5:31pm

Dr.Silly wrote: »

Such a load of nonsense.
It's clear that his frame of mind is messed up big time.
How can you possibly say you're happy with your game over and over again and have such dismal results, AND STILL BE HAPPY.

It's clear that his frame of mind is messed up big time.......

Is it.? Would admitting that he is not happy with his game be the best way to go? I would think that to be admitting defeat before he has even hit a ball. I would consider that to be pretty messed up too. And even if he developed a dirty duck hook that he couldn't shake hes still minted, the best Irish golfer ever, with 3 majors in the bag. I would have to commend him on being so happy and rightly so

Russman · 12-06-2011 6:45pm

I think sometimes PH is too honest for his own good. Yes, he gives the image that he's a nice, helpful guy to interview but he needs to learn how to say nothing at times IMO. Now thats not saying he should be rude and unhelpful, just a little less forthcoming. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people who are interviewing him, I'd rather listen to him than Sergio sulk, or Poulter spout off about how he's not going to be happy if he doesn't win, pro golfers spend the vast bulk of their time not winning, better to be nice about it.

I'd be the first to say the Bob Rotella books can help anyone, but it seems that PH has taken the whole bottle of medicine instead of the few tablets required. I think it'd be easier for him to simply say "I hit a bad shot" instead of "I lost focus", "I made a few mental errors" etc etc.

Without doubt he's our greatest golfer (despite probably not being the most talented, whatever that means) and I hope he's successful again. He's to be commended for getting as much out of his game as he has and actually winning some of the big ones and proving he can handle the pressure coming down the straight not like some more high profile "superstars" who always flatter to deceive, the odd Abu Dhabi championship aside

Yes, he frustrates at times, especially when there is a water hazard nearby, and I get as annoyed with him as the next guy, but the golf world would be a less interesting place if he wasn't around.

Also, changing caddy ? Meh, might or might not help, who knows for sure ?

murphdogg11 · 13-06-2011 2:33pm

Sad to see the continued decline of Harry but he needs to be more honest with himself. He is constantly saying that his game is in great shape but we all know the proof of the pudding etc.

MungoMan · 13-06-2011 2:58pm

murphdogg11 wrote: »

Sad to see the continued decline of Harry but he needs to be more honest with himself. He is constantly saying that his game is in great shape but we all know the proof of the pudding etc.

In the short term, the proof of golf is not always in the pudding...
OK, over the course of a career, a golfer will get exactly what he deserves in terms of prizemoney and titles.

But in the short term, sometimes a golfer needs to take a few steps back before moving forward...

PH could be happy with the mechanics of his swing. He could be developing a good understanding of the different component parts of his swing.....the different parts of his game need to come together though, and it might take time.

Clearly he's not getting the results, he has won a measly 550'000 dollars since January in the US.

People like Westwood have had big slumps in form (and come back stronger), it's no forgone conclusion that Harrington can't do the same

death1234567 · 13-06-2011 3:15pm

Its an enevitable decline really. He made far too many changes in his swing the off season, I heard him talking about over 40 changes last winter. You can't keep tinkering with your swing on that scale if you refuse to admit when the changes are not working.

murphdogg11 · 27-06-2011 9:10am

Following another poor weekend, he is down to number 54 in the world rankings.

27-06-2011 9:28am

Sky Sports showed a clip of him practicing last week doing a "happy gilmore" swing, thats not a clip in his back garden but on the range at the Travellers, they even suggested he might be the type who'd actually bring that swing to an actual competitive round.