Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

vienne86

I saw almost none of this on tv. A very disappointing final round but I'm really encouraged by his performance in the first three rounds. Looking forward to next week.

AloKildare

T22 is a bad result but his putting was very good.
Throughout the whole week he missed just 2 putts inside 5 feet which is a big improvement, they are the putts that were letting him down most often in the last 2-3 years.
He made his fair share of longer putts also, missing just 4 putts inside 10 feet, again big improvement.
When he got chances for birdies he was taking them, yielding a total of 18 birdies for the week. Of the guys that finished in the Top 5, they all had between 15-20 birdies.
His driving was the big let down. When he made bogeys most of them were caused by errors off the tee, hitting it into water several times and also OB.
All in all, I think the improvement in his putting is great to see and it will lead to him contending more often. It could be a great summer for Padraig!

newport2

AloKildare wrote: »

His driving was the big let down. When he made bogeys most of them were caused by errors off the tee, hitting it into water several times and also OB.
All in all, I think the improvement in his putting is great to see and it will lead to him contending more often. It could be a great summer for Padraig!

Agree with the above. His teeshots were the only thing that prevented him from mounting some sort of a challenge yesterday. He still would have needed a 63 to win though!

I read his 3-putt on the 10th in round 4 was his first of the tournament, which is a big improvement. He said he spent hours playing chip shots into the curtains in his hotel and eventually broke one of the windows! (he tweeted “500 reasons not to practise in your hotel.”) But it paid off, his short game was much better this week.

Looking forward to seeing can he build on this in his next few tournaments.

Dolph Starbeam

Harringtons HP Byron Nelson review.

Tour Diary - HP Byron Nelson Championsip - Review
Last week was a big improvement on my previous performances this year in the US. Even though my last round was a poor one the three rounds before it were good. There were a lot of positives from the week - I shot three rounds in the 60s, I got myself into contention on Sunday, but for me the most important thing was that my short game was good. I chipped and putted well all week and this was been something that I have struggled with all year. It has hampered my scoring ability, as when I missed a green it tended to lead to a bogey.

Last week I continued with my plan from the Wells Fargo Championship of reducing the amount of practice that I have been doing. I have given it a lot of thought and felt that I have been wearing myself out on the range and as a result I haven't been fresh when I got onto the course. Over the years I have scored my best when I am mentally fresh and so last week I did very little long game practice. I pretty much warmed up each day, played and then after my round I would hit some wedges and then chip and putt. I would put this down to a big reason behind my improved short game performance - the combination of not being tired and also the fact that the practice I did was better quality. This was the first week all year that I was positive on the “strokes gained” putting stat for the week. Even in my last round I felt that I putted well, bar one three putt.

Another thing that I did last week which was different was that I decided to hit one shape of shot. For the last number of years I haven't really had a “go to” shape, so last week I decided to hit a draw unless the shot dictated otherwise. This made things so much simpler, so every time I stood up to a shot I knew exactly what I was hitting, I aimed a little right of the pin and then drew it in which simplified most shots for me. I did suffer a little during the week of not trusting that it would come back or feeling that it would move too much on the wind but I would expect that in the first week of implementing it. Once I stick to it I know it will become more comfortable.

Sunday was a disappointing round for me as I played quite poorly, in actual fact I felt that I did well to shoot the score I did. I struggled to hit fairways and it made it very hard playing from the rough. A lot of it came down to trusting the draw, however I chipped and putted well bar one mishap on the 10th where I three putted from 15 feet. In the end it was disappointing to finish where I did when I had a chance of winning going out. As it turned out I would have needed to shoot a very low one to win, but it was good to be in the he mix again was it has been a while since I was there.

All in all there were a lot of positive to take away from the week. My short game was much improved, I made plenty of birdies and I really liked the idea of one shape of shot. I will continue with what I was doing this week and hopefully keep this form going at Wentworth. I am heading there feeling good about things after what I saw last week.

Talk soon,
Padraig.

sofireland

Solid start from Paddy -2 after 5

JohnnyLocke

Anyone watching? Is he in the TV coverage?

Speak Now

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

Anyone watching? Is he in the TV coverage?

Nope just like the US coverage sticking to the marquee groups unless something special happens.

-3 after 14.

big_drive

If he could just par his way in now id be happy. Always afraid he'll throw away a good score by going for something risky over the closing holes

newport2

big_drive wrote: »

If he could just par his way in now id be happy. Always afraid he'll throw away a good score by going for something risky over the closing holes

Last two are par 5's too. Hopefully all the snowmen are behind him now. Two 4's would be nice

PARlance

Just showed him birdie the 18th.
First round over. 69 for -3

JohnnyLocke

PARlance wrote: »

Just showed him birdie the 18th.
First round over. 69 for -3

Nice start. Always seems like an extra boost when you sneak into the 60s.

Played the par 5s well which is a good sign. 3 under for them.

Considering the setback on sunday this is a good 1st round

newport2

PARlance wrote: »

Just showed him birdie the 18th.
First round over. 69 for -3

Another in the 60's, so far so good!

Some round by Bjorn, Lowry -6 through 14 too.

big_drive

Good start!

ForeRight

Super round. Tomorrow he should go even lower to comfortably cruise into the weekend.

What a man!

JohnnyLocke

Putting well again. C'mon Padraig!!!!

vienne86

Very nice round from Padraig yesterday. Going under 70 in Wentworth is always good. Really rooting for him this afternoon.

newport2

Ah Padraig, what happened on the first??

big_drive

Feck it, bad start. Wont get any easier in those conditions

JohnnyLocke

He drove it into the deep fairway bunker on the first. Worst conditions possible out there now unfortunately

newport2

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

He drove it into the deep fairway bunker on the first. Worst conditions possible out there now unfortunately

Thanks, won't see it until later. If he can grind level par or better out he'll be well placed. Tough after that 6 to start though

JohnnyLocke

newport2 wrote: »

Thanks, won't see it until later. If he can grind level par or better out he'll be well placed. Tough after that 6 to start though

Harringtons group played the hole in 5 over and Bjorns group (the next group) played it in 4 over.

SnowDrifts

Bit of a Poulter incident for Paddy there... hopefully no penalty if ball only oscillated.

JohnnyLocke

Did he birdie the par 5 4th?

SnowDrifts

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

Did he birdie the par 5 4th?

I think he had a short birdie putt but dropped his marker on his ball. Not sure on the ruling yet...

JohnnyLocke

Good grief. That would really sum up his luck lately if he's penalised!

newport2

SnowDrifts wrote: »

I think he had a short birdie putt but dropped his marker on his ball. Not sure on the ruling yet...

No penalty if he was in the process of marking or replacing his ball I think

JohnnyLocke

He's down for a bogey now?!!!!

Good lord that's two shots back to the field. Disaster start!

SnowDrifts

newport2 wrote: »

No penalty if he was in the process of marking or replacing his ball I think

Unfortunately it is a penalty if you drop a marker on the ball (regardless of the height) as it's not classed as being "directly attributable to marking the ball".

Same thing and result happened Poulter a few years ago.

SnowDrifts

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

He's down for a bogey now?!!!!

Good lord that's two shots back to the field. Disaster start!

It must not have been a birdie putt because the penalty is only 1 stroke. Shame.

Norfolk Enchants_

They got that ruling wrong anyway.