Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

Old diesel

Its all speculation what was said anyway as none of us were actually there.

And if we were - would we seriously report what would have been a private conversation between the guys at the time????

pistol_75

As has been pointed out I didn't say they were talking about the specifics of his golf game but they are well placed to give advise on how to run a successful business/career.

There have been many posts over the years here suggesting he changes this or that and around where he plays, how he practices, his backroom team etc. Stern might have been the wrong word to use but it was definitely some sound advice. I think Padraig has spoken in the past about taking advice on board from JP.

HighLine

The only advice Padraig should be taking on board is from a guy called Butch.

gordongekko

It's too much change that has his game the way it is. A period of no change would probably be better at this stage.

Dero123

newport2 wrote: »

Is he still despite losing his card? How long does it last?

I don't think he is a tour member anymore, he had an option of taking a one time exemption based on career earning but said he was going to give that option a miss until he was nearer to the champions tour.

My understanding is that he can get seven sponsor invites, this week is his fifth one being used and then he has a partial card based on his FedEx finish last year which gets him into certain events - those in November were some and others then that clash with the World Golf Championship events etc

My guess would be that once Wentworth comes around we will see him full time in Europe

abff

Dero123 wrote: »

I don't think he is a tour member anymore, he had an option of taking a one time exemption based on career earning but said he was going to give that option a miss until he was nearer to the champions tour.

Are you sure about that? According to this, he is a category 32 member (whatever that means) for the current season http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/pga-tour-priority-ranking.html

newport2

abff wrote: »

Are you sure about that? According to this, he is a category 32 member (whatever that means) for the current season http://www.pgatour.com/news/2014/pga-tour-priority-ranking.html

This is what I was getting at. I know about the sponsors invite limits and the one year free exemption he has decided to defer. But he lost his card and I assumed that meant he lost his membership. Looks like it's still some sort of partial membership and another way in to events, depending on the places available. His priority on that list will change throughout the year, ie

"NOTES: Categories 33-37 Reordered after the conclusion of OHL Classic at Mayakoba and the Northern Trust Open; thereafter, Mondays of the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship."

If that's true, it's good news. It means he has this in addition to his sponsor's invites (again, assumption).

Speak Now

He's still a member, no limit on the invites he can get.
He's in the category for past winners on tour.

newport2

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

He's still a member, no limit on the invites he can get.
He's in the category for past winners on tour.

How long does this last?

abff

I think it lasts indefinitely. He's also a Veteran Member - someone who has made more than 150 cuts. Therefore, I think he can keep his membership for as long as he wishes, but will be in a very low category and therefore relying mainly on sponsors' invites unless he wins another tournament, gets back into the top 125 or decides to use his one time top 50 career money list exemption.

Incidentally, he's 38th on that list and will probably fall a few places each year unless he starts getting better results, so he would need to use it within the next few years if he doesn't regain his card by one of the routes mentioned above. Having said that, he's only $35,000 behind Freddie Couples, so he will probably pass him at some stage.

Pierce_1991

Padraig's Facebook diary of the week for anyone that hasn't seen it:

Tour Diary - Northern Trust Open - Review

It wasn't a great week for me in L.A. last week, but at least it was better than my previous three weeks. Having missed the cut in my first three events I would be lying if I didn't say it was a relief to make it. It's not that I feel making the cut is some great achievement, far from it in fact, but when you haven't made one for a while it can become a big thing, so to make the weekend at least put that to bed.

I made the cut on one over par after rounds of one under on Thursday and two over on Friday. My first round was a pretty fair reflection of how I played, I made a few par putts and then missed a few birdie chances, but I was happy enough with the score. The course played tough and so it put me in a good position to move on.

On Friday I really struggled with the pace of the greens, as I felt that they were much faster than they had been on Thursday afternoon. As a result, I kept giving myself four to six foot putts back for pars, in some cases bogey, all day and even on my last hole I felt I needed to two putt from 20 feet to make the cut. I thought I had rolled my first putt down to the hole safely but it ran by 5 feet. The good thing was that I holed the one back which I felt I needed to in order to make the cut. I putted well from short range thankfully, otherwise I would have shot a very high score. I was happy to get through the round with a 73 as I didn't play as well as in the first round, but it got me through to the weekend.


Having made the cut, my Saturday round was disappointing as it left me a long way down the field with little hope of improving. The course played tough all week, any score better than par was a really good score but five over was certainly a poor score.

My final round of level par was a lot better, not just in the sense of a lower score but it was hugely different in how I felt on the course. I felt that I played very solid, making three birdies and three bogeys. Two of my bogeys were from around the green from where I shouldn't have dropped shots. However, the good thing was that I hit a lot of good shots and I felt much better about myself on the course. This change came about on the range after my third round – whilst I was hitting some balls and working on my focus, I noticed that I was putting a lot of emphasis on needing to focus perfectly in order to hit a good shot. Once I separated the two and accepted that each can be done without the other, I felt much better about myself. I have been beating myself up about my focus and mental approach and the way I judged it was whether I hit a good shot or not. On Sunday I used the idea that I can do both, but that they are not necessarily dependent on each other and it felt much better. I was much happier and relaxed on the course and nowhere near as tough on myself. Even though I only shot level par and finished well down the field I came away feeling some much better about myself and my golf. It seems so simple when I think about it, but up too now I just couldn't see it.

I have one more tournament, the Honda Classic, before I head home for a week. I'm really looking forward to playing to see how I feel on the course again - it was so much better on Sunday that I just want to get out again and put it to the test. So whilst it wasn't a great week in terms of my finishing position, it was a big week in terms of me figuring out a few things.

Padraig.

newport2

abff wrote: »

I think it lasts indefinitely. He's also a Veteran Member - someone who has made more than 150 cuts. Therefore, I think he can keep his membership for as long as he wishes, but will be in a very low category and therefore relying mainly on sponsors' invites unless he wins another tournament, gets back into the top 125 or decides to use his one time top 50 career money list exemption.

Incidentally, he's 38th on that list and will probably fall a few places each year unless he starts getting better results, so he would need to use it within the next few years if he doesn't regain his card by one of the routes mentioned above. Having said that, he's only $35,000 behind Freddie Couples, so he will probably pass him at some stage.

If it was indefinite, surely there would be a much longer list in category 32 though? I genuinely don't know though, you're probably right

abff

newport2 wrote: »

If it was indefinite, surely there would be a much longer list in category 32 though? I genuinely don't know though, you're probably right

I don't know either, but there doesn't seem to be any time limit on the Veteran Member category. I'd say everything pretty much runs out when a player reaches 50 and qualifies to play on the Champions Tour. Hopefully, Padraig will be back playing regularly with a full card before then.

Dolph Starbeam

From Ian Poulters Twitter

"@IanJamesPoulter: Padraig Harrington just signed a few @TheOpen flags from Royal Birkdale for Charity. He signed them and put "Thanks Ian" #CheekyBastard haha"

MarcusP12

Just read paddy's preview of Honda open...mentions that course is tough with plenty of rough and water and is set up like a us open course...don't want to sound negative but that really doesn't sound like a good combination with paddy's wildness off the tee....in saying that,if he can keep the doubles or worse off his card like last week,Then he might do Ok if he's scrambling well as according to him,anything around par is a good Score...very strong field too and he refers to it as a mini major so a good performance here will be invaluable....

MarcusP12

Just took a look at the leaderboard there and some big scored being racked up already! Paddy up next.....all aboard the roller-coaster!

gladrags

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Just took a look at the leaderboard there and some big scored being racked up already! Paddy up next.....all aboard the roller-coaster!

Here's hoping,

Worth another flutter ew.

vienne86

Level par so far.....four holes played.

Pierce_1991

Level through 7, he seems to be hitting it quite wayward but is scrambling well at the moment. It's interesting reading his Facebook posts because he really seems to believe he has turned a corner, hopefully he's right.

mrkiscool2

He's got the putter going today, lovely 16ft birdie at 8! Tied 2nd now

ForeRight

Blow it up ref!!!!!!!

BoardsMember

He's back!

Old diesel

BoardsMember wrote: »

He's back!

Needs to be able to achieve consistently good performances over 4 days to "be back".

It is a good start - however - in 2015 events - he has tended to start okay - and then hit bother in his 2nd or 3rd round.

ForeRight

Old diesel wrote: »

Needs to be able to achieve consistently good performances over 4 days to "be back".

It is a good start - however - in 2015 events - he has tended to start okay - and then hit bother in his 2nd or 3rd round.

Look at that drive Diesel. The main man is most certainly back.....

JohnnyLocke

Couple of great pars to start the difficult back 9. Level par/1 under would be a great score today. Unfortunately the water holes are coming up. Having said that Harrington amazingly has one of the best records around "the bear trap" Pity theres no live@ coverage. Although i thought there was meant to be. Maybe it hasnt started yet.

JohnnyLocke

3 great pars

FixdePitchmark

Are we saying he is back ?

Fore ?

BoardsMember

Old diesel wrote: »

Needs to be able to achieve consistently good performances over 4 days to "be back".

It is a good start - however - in 2015 events - he has tended to start okay - and then hit bother in his 2nd or 3rd round.

No...seriously?? Can we not definitively say that he's back and likely to win at least one major this year based on being one under par after 5 holes of his first round? That's an outrageous suggestion.

Old diesel

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Are we saying he is back ?

Fore ?

Too early - don't want to jinx him

Old diesel

BoardsMember wrote: »

No...seriously?? Can we not definitively say that he's back and likely to win at least one major this year based on being one under par after 5 holes of his first round? That's an outrageous suggestion.

You mean you were only messing with your "he's back" comment

My apologies