There’s no love lost for Harrington on 18
PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON’S love-hate relationship with the 18th hole at Carnoustie continues. Eleven years ago, the Dubliner almost blew The Open with a double bogey on the treacherous par-four on Sunday, and even when he swept aside Sergio Garcia in the subsequent play-off, he needed five strokes to secure victory. It was late in the evening yesterday when Harrington arrived on the tee at three over par for the Championship. Could he strike a blow for his weekend prospects and bring his nemesis to heel? No. Once again, the 499-yarder bared its teeth and took a chunk out of Harrington. A five-iron off the tee found water on the left and preempted a double-bogey six as he stumbled to a 76. What made the score sting was Harrington’s earlier play, which was splendid and carried him to one under par on the ninth tee. ‘It was a disappointing finish. You’ve got to kind of hang in out there and hope to make a few birdies,’ he admitted. ‘Things were going nicely for me and then I lost a bit of focus around the turn when the wind changed and then dropped three shots at nine, 10 and 12. You know, not great when you’re not seeing too many birdies. ‘You need to make a couple of birdies to keep ahead of the game here. ‘At 14, I three-putted for par. You need that birdie coming home. ‘I missed one on 15, and 16, 17, 18 are always going to be difficult. It definitely could have been a day to get around in level par but five over is disappointing,’ he added. Harrington wasn’t alone in finding the scoring conditions that bit tougher in the afternoon. ‘Well, they certainly tucked away the pin positions. I don’t think the scoring was so good in the afternoon, is it? I think the greens got quite bumpy. So for the guys in the afternoon, it was difficult.’ Harrington will be out early this morning and probably needs to card 70, or maybe lower, to make the cut. He will need to make more birdies than the two he managed yesterday.