Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

JohnnyLocke

1 under par round. Couldve been better but solid play tee to green! If he can gain a little bit more confidence with the short putts this has the potential to be a really great year! (i know it already is)

Just noticed something. Next week is the Valero Texas Open and Padraig originally said he'd honour each of his sponsors invites. His website says it's the next event he plays in but on the PGA Tour website he's not confirmed to be in the field. I think he might have withdrawn and use that as his rest week.

Another point of interest. The world matchplay championship (WGC) is moved to the 27th of April (i think) this year. Harrington is currently 80th in the OWGR. He needs to reach the top 64 to get in. Tiger might not play so maybe top 65. I'd love to see him in this event because theyve changed the format this year. It's not knockout straight away this year. Its like a round robin format. Guaranteed 3 matches i think. Be great to see him knock off a few top players! It's impossible to tell now exactly what he needs but a very rough estimation would be 3 top 10s/2 top 5s maybe. With that in mind a low round tomorrow would be massive!

Old diesel

Yes youd wonder just how good he could go if the putts all dropped.

But still the fact we are thinking this way is in itself fine progress - because it means hes creating the opportunities

Its amazing to think the 3 holes he bogied yesterday - he birdies them all today.

Im very happy to see how he bounced back after the shaky start - that's a real sign of the man - kept it together - kept it going to fight back.

We are in a lovely place now - as we are getting to see what he can do - and its lovely stuff

vienne86

I missed this again this evening but great he had another solid round.

Dero123

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

1 under par round. Couldve been better but solid play tee to green! If he can gain a little bit more confidence with the short putts this has the potential to be a really great year! (i know it already is)

Just noticed something. Next week is the Valero Texas Open and Padraig originally said he'd honour each of his sponsors invites. His website says it's the next event he plays in but on the PGA Tour website he's not confirmed to be in the field. I think he might have withdrawn and use that as his rest week.

Another point of interest. The world matchplay championship (WGC) is moved to the 27th of April (i think) this year. Harrington is currently 80th in the OWGR. He needs to reach the top 64 to get in. Tiger might not play so maybe top 65. I'd love to see him in this event because theyve changed the format this year. It's not knockout straight away this year. Its like a round robin format. Guaranteed 3 matches i think. Be great to see him knock off a few top players! It's impossible to tell now exactly what he needs but a very rough estimation would be 3 top 10s/2 top 5s maybe. With that in mind a low round tomorrow would be massive!

He did withdraw from next week's event, promised them he would play in it next year. He needs to be in top 64 the Monday before the match play to get in. Tiger is already outside that mark on the rankings

Slicemeister

Hope it's a sign of things for the rest of the year seeing Harrington up there on the leader board on a Sunday. A good run today Padraig please!!!

vienne86

Started with a bogey on his final round......two pars on the second and third have steadied the ship, hopefully.

JohnnyLocke

Birdie at the par 5 4th. Played the hole lovely. Had a short eagle chip

Old diesel

At the end of the day - regardless of what happens on the remaining holes - we are seeing potential YET again this weekend.

Old diesel

Birdie at the 4th

Old diesel

Oops - missed Johnny lockes post

JohnnyLocke

Superb shot into the 8th. Doesnt look possible to get near that flag! Fails to take advantage again though.

Old diesel

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

Superb shot into the 8th. Doesnt look possible to get near that flag! Fails to take advantage again though.

Shot 2 was such a beauty - youd be inclined to forgive the putt

Dan Chipowski

3 putt bogey from 21 feet on the 10th.

JohnnyLocke

3 putt from 20 feet. Another very short putt missed. Very frustrating. Needs to sort out the short putting before the Masters as Augusta can make you look very foolish inside 5 feet!

JohnnyLocke

Watched his putt on Live@ at the 13th, he came up well short with a very jittery stroke. Just 3 putted the 14th aswel. Yet another short one missed!

Old diesel

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

Watched his putt on Live@ at the 13th, he came up well short with a very jittery stroke. Just 3 putted the 14th aswel. Yet another short one missed!

yet the play by play suggests that his successful putt for birdie on 17 was 35 feet

Old diesel

I still regard his performance over the first 31 holes as a positive to take away from the weekend.

The 3 bogies in a row in round 2 hit his confidence I think - as he seemed to be in an uphill battle after that

Does he get any world ranking points at all - when he finished T56 in the event before the Honda - I thought someone said on here that if he only finished one shot better hed have got world ranking points?????

FixdePitchmark

I know this is not the populist thing to say. But my feeling on Padraig are the same as they were before the Honda.

Yes, it was and has been a pleasant return to a decent level. The win was unexpected.

But in events like this in US -

If we gave Padraig pars - for the 4 bogies today and the 3 in a row yesterday - he would still be only 1/2 the winning score. And that is giving him 7 shots. That is a long , long way back.

The point I'm making is - in general - even with him playing very well - I can't see him at that 20 under level.

Harder events with higher scores - maybe bad weather - he can strike.

I think top 30s are the best he can target in these.

vienne86

Putting disappointing today. That standard won't do for Agusta.

Old diesel

vienne86 wrote: »

Putting disappointing today. That standard won't do for Agusta.

Hopefully he might be able to get it back on track - the putting.

However today - is today - that's done and dusted - we didn't expect that hed even be there before the Honda - or indeed win it.

So we just don't know what will happen - that's part of the fun

My moneys on him working at it - and addressing the issue* - although I don't know if he will do so before Agusta

*He had a superb performance over 31 holes here - no dropped shots - before dropping 3 at consecutive holes - which I think knocked him back

abff

Old diesel wrote: »

I still regard his performance over the first 31 holes as a positive to take away from the weekend.

The 3 bogies in a row in round 2 hit his confidence I think - as he seemed to be in an uphill battle after that

Does he get any world ranking points at all - when he finished T56 in the event before the Honda - I thought someone said on here that if he only finished one shot better hed have got world ranking points?????

By my reckoning, he should get 1.41 world ranking points for finishing in a six way tie for 49th.

JohnnyLocke

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I know this is not the populist thing to say. But my feeling on Padraig are the same as they were before the Honda.

Yes, it was and has been a pleasant return to a decent level. The win was unexpected.

But in events like this in US -

If we gave Padraig pars - for the 4 bogies today and the 3 in a row yesterday - he would still be only 1/2 the winning score. And that is giving him 7 shots. That is a long , long way back.

The point I'm making is - in general - even with him playing very well - I can't see him at that 20 under level.

Harder events with higher scores - maybe bad weather - he can strike.

I think top 30s are the best he can target in these.

I disagree to an extent. Had he putted well this week he could've easily shot 14 under. I do agree that the 20 under totals are beyond him but hasnt that always been the case? When he was world no. 3 he wasn't competing in those type of events. To be fair, Bay hill doesn't normally have a winning total of 19 under, it was solely down to the softness and slow pace of the greens. You can see by Harringtons schedule in recent years that he favours the tougher courses and this week just happened to be a birdie fest.

19 under isn't going to be the winning total at Augusta! But playing like he did this week tee to green will put him in good shape! I feel he's a genuine threat to contend, IF he can sort out the short putting.

Old diesel

I think its worth remembering - that whatever his difficulties with putting - it was "good enough" for 7 under par for the tournament at one stage during the 2nd round.

He was flying - generally - before the 3 bogies at 14, 15 and 16 in the 2nd round

Personally I think the 3 bogies in a row hampered him - they changed his tournament

I think he will keep working at it - and we will just have to wait and see.

Wed have taken this result a few months ago - he will always have some issue to work on I think - but the thing about him - is he will always keep trying - this is why he won the Honda - by never giving up

vienne86

81st in the OWGR.

newport2

JohnnyLocke wrote: »

I disagree to an extent. Had he putted well this week he could've easily shot 14 under. I do agree that the 20 under totals are beyond him but hasnt that always been the case? When he was world no. 3 he wasn't competing in those type of events. To be fair, Bay hill doesn't normally have a winning total of 19 under, it was solely down to the softness and slow pace of the greens. You can see by Harringtons schedule in recent years that he favours the tougher courses and this week just happened to be a birdie fest.

19 under isn't going to be the winning total at Augusta! But playing like he did this week tee to green will put him in good shape! I feel he's a genuine threat to contend, IF he can sort out the short putting.

+1 He has always done better when the winning score has been closer to par, or at least less that -8 anyway. Even at his peak he only won about twice a season. If he keeps making the cut and shooting reasonable scores, then other opportunities to win will come his way again at some point. Hopefully at some of the big ones

Ruu

https://twitter.com/padraig_h/status/580430216927027200

Mountjoy Mugger

Has he changed his mind about the Valero open? He's not listed in tee times.

He might have seen the light about overdoing it pre Masters.

h2005

Mountjoy Mugger wrote: »

Has he changed his mind about the Valero open? He's not listed in tee times.

He might have seen the light about overdoing it pre Masters.

He's not playing it. Probably a tournament that would have suited him though. No one is going to go too low on that course.

Pierce_1991

The scoring is very low so far at the Valero Texas Open. I wonder would Harrington have been better off playing in this tournament.

AGC

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

The scoring is very low so far at the Valero Texas Open. I wonder would Harrington have been better off playing in this tournament.

High you mean!

Scott Stallings had an 11, the shot tracker image is funny