Padraig Harrington says keep the head and solve mysteries for US Senior Open joy

Padraig Harrington says keep the head and solve mysteries for US Senior Open joy

Patient Padriag Harrington is going old school and has vowed to keep the head as he hunts another Senior US Open title. The Irish golfing legend and former Ryder Cup captain is aiming to add to his 2022 success with a victory this week in Colorado. Twice Open champ Harrington is excited for the test at the The Broadmoor course and the 53-year-old reckons he鈥檒l have to roll back time in other ways to get the trophy. Looking at the US Open test, the three-time Major winner on the full circuit, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly old school, there鈥檚 no doubt about it. I know we鈥檙e at altitude and most of the conversation is going to be about altitude, dealing with how far the ball is going and not going. Obviously the temperature is having a big effect. 鈥淚 think as regards that, it鈥檚 about patience, and you鈥檙e going to get it wrong at times. That鈥檚 just the way it is. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to hit some good shots that go over the back of the greens, which tends not to be good. You鈥檙e going to spin the odd one off the green. You鈥檙e going to have to accept that and be patient. Outside of that, I think the real skill of this week is being good on the greens. As I said, very old school, treacherous at the speeds that we play them at these days and with the slopes.” Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher goes for glory and Harrington continued: “It鈥檚 just going to be a relentless week of taking it on the chin and, if it runs five feet by, not complaining, and get up there and hit your best putt and get on with it. Look, I鈥檓 very pleasantly surprised with the USGA Senior Open. They kind of set up a major championship, a senior major championship like maybe what we would have played 20 years ago. Very similar. 鈥淥bviously things have changed in that time, equipment and stuff like that, but it鈥檚 very familiar to early 2000s. The rough is reasonably heavy, very heavy around the greens. You鈥檙e going to expect difficulty on the greens. If you can keep it on the fairway, hit lots of greens, you鈥檙e really reducing the stress this week, and as I said, there is going to be a lot of stress with the altitude causing problems. I鈥檝e played a lot with altitude over the years, down in South Africa, play a big event in Crans Montana up in Switzerland, so a lot of altitude over the years. I don鈥檛 know if you鈥檙e still learning, but the standard practice is to use a meters book instead of a yardage book just for the psychology of if you鈥檝e got 200 yards and you鈥檙e trying to hit a seven-iron, that鈥檚 hard to do. 鈥淭hen if we get any wind, any swirling wind at all, now we鈥檙e up in the mountains where it鈥檚 swirling wind. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just not going to get it right all the time. You鈥檝e got to be very patient with it and hopefully you don鈥檛 get too many bad breaks or you make the most of those bad breaks but you鈥檙e going to get them. Never been here before. First time. Beautiful. Really beautiful. Fantastic up here. As I said, I鈥檓 used to the altitude, but the Broadmoor is really nice. We鈥檙e having a great time. Everything about the event is great. Just need to play good golf.鈥 Harrington appears in good form with three Top 10 finishes this year, but said: 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 had a great year. The PGA I played quite well in, so I鈥檓 hoping to find that sort of form again this week. Obviously 72-hole tournaments, the bigger golf courses would tend to suit me. Not a lot of drivers this week. 鈥淭he mental challenge is always going to suit me. The harder it is, the more fortitude you need, those are the sort of traits that have been good for me over the years. As I said, there鈥檚 going to be some mysteries, as we would say, balls going over greens or short and you can鈥檛 do anything about it. You just have to take it and make the most of it. The winner probably will make the most of it. When things go wrong, he鈥檒l recover, he鈥檒l keep his head for the week and that鈥檚 certainly my goal is not to lose the head about getting anything wrong because I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 going to happen a few times.鈥

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