GOLF:IF YOU were to look at Pádraig Harrington, lying prone on a bench in the locker-room an hour or so before he's due to commence battle on the golf course, you'd wonder if, (a) he's a hypochondriac, and (b) how on earth he can go shoulder-to-shoulder, eyeball-to-eyeball with Tiger Woods.
Yesterday, just ahead of his second round in the 91st USPGA Championship at Hazeltine, defending champion Harrington – who started out a shot behind Woods – underwent intensive pre-round work with his physiotherapist which he described as, “what it takes to get ready, it’s just part of being a professional athlete.”
Still, it hadn’t seemed that way on Thursday evening after he suffered back spasms at the conclusion of his first round which necessitated two physios working on him in the locker-room.
Later, he could be seen with his feet immersed in tubs of ice water to combat a chronically sore left ankle which has been a part and parcel of his sporting life going back to his Gaelic football days.
Once out on the course, though, Harrington isn’t inclined to let any aches and pains stand in his way . . . and so it was yesterday – on a hot, humid and windy day in Minnesota – that the 37-year-old Dubliner resumed his on-going head-to-head with Woods, a continuation of their duel at Akron last Sunday except that this was on an even bigger stage, a major!
Not that the stage was cleared for Messrs Woods and Harrington. Far from it in fact, as Fijian Vijyay Singh – a two-time PGA champion – and US Open champion Lucas Glover, who has found the secret of contending in the majors, claimed the clubhouse lead alongside Australia’s Brendan Jones on 141, three under par. Singh shot a second round 72, but Glover – despite a bogey on his finishing hole – shot a 70.
On a day when conditions asked as many hard questions as the course, which had a number of tees moved up to reduce its length to a mere 7,575 yards, including the forward tee at 299 yards being used on the 14th to entice players to drive the green, there was sufficient good scoring to indicate that Woods wouldn’t have it all his own way in his quest for a 15th career major.
Indeed, Ernie Els – despite a cold day with the putter – and his South African compatriot Tim Clark proved that the course could be conquered, as each compiled rounds of 68 that moved them in the right direction.
However, the biggest statement from the morning starters came from Glover who finished his round just before Woods, the first round leader, and Harrington, who started out alone in second, were setting out. “Who knows where I’ll sit at the end of the day, but I’ve put myself into a good position and I’ll see what happens,” said the American.
Glover is a different player since his win in the US Open. What did he get from that win in Bethpage? “Just a sense that I could do it, it gives you a confidence boost . . . you know, that I performed under the gun and that’s a good feeling.”
And, what would winning the Wanamaker Trophy mean? “I think winning any tournament is important. I don’t think I have to validate anything, I’ve been out here six years and had a pretty good career. It’d just be nice to win another one. I’m not looking to prove anything to anyone else.”
Singh, too, was content to have put himself into a position heading into the weekend. The 46-year-old Fijian endured a poor start to the season, as he recovered from knee surgery but has slowly rediscovered his form.
“The knee? It doesn’t hurt much when I hit the ball, only hurts when I go home in the evening. No, it’s no problem at all.”
Indeed, it was a sign that Singh’s competitiveness was back as he lamented the shots that got away on him in a frustrating second round. “I could have scored one or two better than I did, and every time I made a birdie I followed up with a bogey and vice versa. That bogey on the last, the ball almost went sideways in the wind. But that’s the way, you have to take the good with the bad.”
Among the casualties were Australian Adam Scott, who revealed afterwards that he had parted company with his coach Butch Harmon, while Darren Clarke and Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie were others to take early flights home after also missing the cut.
Yet, the Woods and Harrington show continued as the second round progressed. Woods reached the turn one under on his round (five-under), as did Harrington (four-under) as they sunk their teeth into the battle and had the galleries roaring their approval as the two heavyweights traded blow for blow.
Woods bogeyed the first hole, pulling his tee shot into the left rough, but responded with back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh while Harrington recovered from a dropped shot on the third (where he put his drive into a fairway bunker and then made an error in decision making by opting for a fairway wood from the sand) to grab birdies on the fourth and ninth holes to match Woods over that front nine.
At that stage, Woods had established a three stroke lead over Singh, Glover and Jones, while Harrington had moved two shots clear of them. The game was well and truly on.
Graeme McDowell had moved into a share of the lead (on four-under) with Woods and Harrington at one stage, as the Ulsterman claimed three birdies in his opening five holes but he then suffered bogeys on the 16th (where he was lucky not to put his tee shot into the creek) and the 18th, having started on the 10th. Rory McIlroy was level for his round (one under for the tournament) through 11 holes of his second round.
