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
Padraig Harrington |
Masters Record
Year | Place | Scr | Round | Money | |||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
2012 | 8 | -4 | 71 | 73 | 68 | 72 | $ 232,000 |
2011 | 75 | +5 | 77 | 72 | $ 10,000 | ||
2010 | 54 | +5 | 74 | 75 | $ 10,000 | ||
2009 | 35 | E | 69 | 73 | 73 | 73 | $ 38,625 |
2008 | 5 | -2 | 74 | 71 | 69 | 72 | $ 273,750 |
2007 | 7 | +5 | 77 | 68 | 75 | 73 | $ 233,812 |
2006 | 27 | +4 | 73 | 70 | 75 | 74 | $ 49,700 |
2005 | 51 | +5 | 72 | 77 | $ 5,000 | ||
2004 | 13 | E | 74 | 74 | 68 | 72 | $ 125,667 |
2003 | 50 | +6 | 77 | 73 | $ 5,000 | ||
2002 | 5 | -6 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 71 | $ 212,800 |
2001 | 27 | -1 | 75 | 69 | 72 | 71 | $ 40,600 |
2000 | 19 | +3 | 76 | 69 | 75 | 71 | $ 53,820 |