EXPECT SOME MONSTER DRIVING, SAYS PÁDRAIG

TWO-TIME Open winner Pádraig Harrington believes Carnoustie could be made for the big-hitters next week due to the fairways being baked by the recent hot winner. The Dubliner, who won the Open at Carnoustie in 2007, said it could be possible for players to reach the greens in one shot on the par 4 holes after the 47-yearold hit some monster drives during his practice round yesterday. Eleven years ago, on the last day, Harrington drove into the Barry Burn at the 18th and had 228 yards left for his approach. In his first practice round this time, he drove into the burn once more, only this time where it crosses in front of the green — a distance of 457 yards on the 499yard hole. ‘Not for a minute did I think the burn was in range because it wasn’t even playing particularly downwind, but imagine if it wasn’t there?’ he said. ‘We’d see players hitting the green with their tee shots.’ Harrington — back to fulfil a corporate commitment with club manufacturers Wilson — was happy to relive his 2007 play-off win yesterday. And, on one specific point, he could hardly be more clear. Recalling the moments as he sat in the recorder’s hut watching Sergio Garcia miss a putt that would have won him The Open, Harrington insisted: ‘When I was looking at Sergio on the 18th, I never once wished for him to miss. ‘I wasn’t sitting there going: “Miss, miss, miss …” I knew he had to miss for me to win. ‘But I just sat there saying: “I’m going to win, I’m going to win this, I’m going to win the Open”. ‘So when he missed I didn’t have a high or low, I didn’t have a change of emotions. ‘When I came back out, you could see I was ready to go. There wasn’t a shock value to me in him missing, I was just going to win. ‘I convinced myself I was going to win and it meant I didn’t ride an emotional rollercoaster. ‘That’s a huge part of playing a play-off well. ‘You see people going into play-offs and sometimes they have poor attitudes. But you have to stay in the zone,’ he added. ‘I like being back here. It’s nice to be centre of attention, a bit of spotlight. I’ve got to this stage of my career where I embrace that more.’