Padraig Harrington aims to read greens better

Inveterate tinkerer that he is, Padraig Harrington brings something new to the golf course almost every day.

For this year’s Masters Tour­nament, the three-time major winner from Ireland brings a pair of specs and expanded pecs.

Sporting glasses for the first time at Doral, Har­ring­ton is on a mission to read greens better. He also has added 15 pounds since last year in a quest to build more muscle for a stronger and more stable base.

His vision is more complex. Harrington has 20/20 vision without the glasses, but several laser surgeries through the years have changed what was a right-to-left bias in his vision when he was younger to a left-to-right bias. His eyes are too dry for contacts, so he’s trying out glasses to even things out and avoid indecisiveness.

“I have struggled for a number of years with reading the greens,” he said. “What I see and what my instincts tell me – actually what I see and what it is – are not the same thing. I can still figure out the greens, but this is just to help me read the greens. I wouldn’t need to wear them if not for that.”

Harrington hasn’t won a PGA or European Tour event since his PGA Championship triumph in 2008 at Oakland Hills capped a run of three majors in two years. He got into tinkering with his swing and fell off his stride from a career-high No. 3 in the world that season.

The biggest thing holding Harrington back has been his putting.

“Putting-wise, I was in horrors going into the Masters last year,” he said.

His putting collapse continued as he missed numerous chances in the final round and had a three-putt double bogey on the final hole that left him tied for eighth.

“If I knocked in the putts I would have been right there, but I wasn’t winning,” he said. “The two boys (Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen) who got in the playoff, it was their day. I could have been much closer. I didn’t begrudge. It wasn’t mine to win as it turned out, even though I did miss a lot of putts on the last day.”

Harrington backed up his encouraging Masters finish with a tie for fourth in the U.S. Open at Olympic despite a pair of four-putts in the first round. He made a late Sunday run with five birdies in 11 holes, but needing another birdie on the last hole to possibly earn a spot in a playoff, he made bogey to finish two behind.

Harrington’s five-year exemption from his last major win runs out after this Mas­ters, and he hasn’t finished a season inside the top 50 since 2010. He says ensuring his return to Augusta is “not keeping me awake at night.”

“I’d like to win and give me a lifetime exemption into the Masters,” he said. “I’d like to be No. 1 in the world, too.”

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219