GOLF: Padraig Harrington may be a keen student of war history but was loth to prematurely indulge in a notion that he could repeat a victory of relatively recent vintage. In 2004 he won the Linde German Masters, the last tournament prior to that year's Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills.
Yesterday at the Club de Golf La Moraleja in Madrid he nudged himself into a position to repeat the feat a week in advance of the Ryder Cup at The K Club. He posted a well crafted seven-under-the-card 65 for a 12-under-par total, which earned him a placed at the top of the leaderboard, albeit alongside Gary Orr.
While the tournament is at only the halfway point, Harrington's game - or more appositely, his touch on the greens - augurs well for the weekend.
When reminded of his exploits two years ago the Dubliner emphatically doused any finger-of-fate theories, preferring to talk of "pure coincidence".
"I do tend to play better towards the end of the year in terms of tournaments. A lot of my wins have come in September/October so that's not coincidence but doing it in the week before the Ryder Cup is," he smiled.
He played alongside the defending champion, Raphael Jacquelin, and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, already a winner on the tour this season, and the trio generated an irresistible momentum over their opening nine holes - they started on the 10th - carding 15 birdies between them; Harrington helped himself to five and the outright tournament lead.
The suggestion that the plundering would continue in a similar vein for Harrington foundered at the third and fourth holes when he ran up a brace of bogeys, both arising from mishit chip shots. He's nothing if not resilient and having slipped behind Castano, Harrington responded by posting four under for the last three holes.
A 15-foot birdie putt on the seventh and a six-footer on the next were the scene setters for a grandstand finish. The ninth hole is a 415-yard, downhill par four. Harrington reduced it to a 403-yard drive and a 43-foot putt for eagle (don't bother with the mathematics). When asked how far he'd hit the tee shot he laughed: "I'd say about 403 yards and why let the facts gets in the way of a good story?"
He drove the ball through a narrow funnel to the front apron, his accuracy in marked contrast to his earlier exploits when he hit just four of 14 fairways but crucially took just 23 putts in his round.
"The putts have certainly dropped for me on the first two days. I've probably played okay too; maybe I'm being a little hard on myself," he said.
An insight into Harrington's approach to the weekend can be gleaned from his attitude to the leading/chasing philosophy. He once observed: "(I prefer) to be chased and stay ahead. That's the ultimate pressure. Chasing is much easier. (The) enjoyment would be the chase; satisfaction would be staying ahead. For me it's all about satisfaction about being in control taking their best and finishing on top."
His closest rivals are Orr (65) and Ian Poulter (66) while another Irishman, Damien McGrane, is just four back after a second successive 68.
The Meath native recovered from the horror of driving out of bounds at his first hole, the 10th. He explained: "I had a driver off the tee and an idiot behind me was putting me off my shot. He was talking and all of a sudden he raised his voice with me at the top of my swing and it went left out of bounds.
"I had a word with him," he added with some understated.
McGrane turned in level par but four birdies in the last six holes transformed his card. "There are a lot of birdie chances out there so it is important not to drop too many silly shots. So I have managed to keep most of the bogeys off my card and taken my birdie chances when they come along."
David Higgins's battle to retain his card - he is 131st on the money list with 158,000 - received a fillip following his 68 to move to six under. A top-five place would move him over the €200,000 mark considered to be the minimum requirement for a place on the European Tour next season.
Darren Clarke again struck the ball nicely but could barely buy a birdie putt en route to a 72 for a four-under total. Stephen Browne (72) made the weekend on the cut mark - Johan Skold's bogey on the 18th green changed it from two under to one under - where he was joined by Peter Lawrie, the latter carding a fine 69. Michael Hoey (69) missed out by a single stroke while Gary Murphy's game deserted him for a second day en route to a 78.
