Harrington ‘mentally ready’ for third Open bid
PÁDRAIG Harrington is preparing himself for a test of ‘mental fortitude’ as he dares to contemplate challenging for a third Open title. Harrington witnessed at close quarters Phi Mickelson becoming the oldest winner in major history in May’s US PGA Championship and feels he’s in a good place after an encouraging top-20 finish in the Scottish Open. ‘There’s some good stuff in there, I’m just trying to put it all together,’ said the 2007 and 2008 Open winner. ‘I get lost certain weeks, just get caught up with my own stuff and sometimes don’t give myself the best chance. ‘Knowing that the Open is around the corner I’m a little bit more disciplined, not doing quite as much practice, trying to get my game in shape before I get to the Open rather than get down there and start trying to put it together down there.’ ‘It’s a very traditional links golf course,’ Europe’s Ryder Cup captain said about Royal St George’s. ‘I don’t recall it suiting me, but it should suit me in that sense, in that it’s bouncy and is exactly how links is meant to be. ‘It’s meant to test your mental fortitude. In my head it’s always sunny down there and baked out and I’m hoping for that this week, a kind of dusty, traditional Open, the ball fiery and real links golf. ‘Physically I’m able to do it, mentally I’m actually in the position now where I’m comfortable with my game.’
RORY McILROY believes an Open championship at Portmarnock ‘would be awesome’. The famed north Dublin links ‘would be a wonderful venue’ for golf’s biggest tournament, according to the 2014 winner.
Ahead of battle for the 149th Open at Royal St George’s in Kent, England, this week, McIlroy supported the case for the Open to follow the 2019 Amateur championship at Portmarnock.
‘If the Open went to Portmarnock, that would be awesome. The R&A have had events there, the Amateur a few years ago. I think it would be a wonderful venue,’ he said.
‘As a venue, it has the golf course, the proximity to Dublin, the proximity to the airport,’ added McIlroy, who had a preperation round for the Open at Portmarnock last week.
Portmarnock recently voted to admit women members which clears the way for it to come into consideration for the R&A who stress the Open is not confined to venues in Britain and Northern Ireland.
‘A lot of things would have to happen to make it happen but I would certainly be on board if that were the case,’ said McIlroy.
The Open was such a massive success at Portrush in 2019, the R&A are returning to the Antrim coast in 2025.
Prior to that, St Andrews will stage the 150th Open in 2022 with Hoylake (2023) and Troon (2024) to come, but Portmarnock could come into the frame before 2030.
Just two years ago, the Amateur championship returned to Portmarnock where James Sugrue from Mallow, was triumphant.
McIlroy hasn’t bagged a Major since 2014 but he knows how quickly a player can turn a rut into a groove, as Darren Clarke famously did a decade ago at Royal St George’s.
‘I think a lot of players play their best when they’ve low expectations, and that’s really what happened to Darren at that time,’ recalled McIlroy.
‘He felt like he couldn’t get the ball in the hole, felt like he wasn’t hitting it well. He had that famous chat with Bob Rotella on Wednesday, and somehow that transformed him.’
Perhaps McIlroy also lit a fire under Clarke before the 2011 Open.
He and Clarke were playing a practice round when they caught up with Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuiizen, which led to some gentle ribbing.
‘Louis won the Open in ’10; Charl had won the Masters that year and I’d just won the US Open. So it was sort of three recent major champions and I think I said to Darren, “Do you feel left out?” And he went on to win that week, which was great. Everyone was so happy to see him get that major.
‘I’ve said it so much, when you’re playing badly it’s never as far away as you think it is.
‘And when you’re playing well, you’re never that far away from playing badly. There are such fine lines in the game.
‘I worked hard after Augusta but before Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo Championship) I didn’t know how it was going. I think my price with the bookmakers was the highest it had been in a few years, and I won. Again, we play our best with low expectations.’
Just as Clarke was regarded as a player of intuitive talents, so it irritates McIlroy that he’s spoken of as a natural.
‘I’ve never liked the “talented” tag. It sort of means that I don’t work hard, or don’t practice. All talent is, is the hard work you put in over the years.
‘There’s no one in the world of golf that’s hit as many golf balls as I have or played as many holes.
‘I’ve been playing this game since I was two years old, and I’ve been obsessed with it since I was two, so the naturally talented thing irks me at times because it gives off the impression I’m lazy, or don’t work as hard, which is not the case at all,’ he said.
‘I get where people are coming from, but there’s a lot more to it than natural ability and talent, and everyone out here would tell you the same thing.’
McIlroy was asked whether there was anyone he’d rather not play with due to their traits.
‘I’m a terrible judge of character, everyone is so nice to me!’ he replied.
‘It’s a hard one. My wife is definitely a better judge of character than I am.
‘The only people I don’t like being paired with are people who are slow. If you get paired with a slow person in a three-ball it’s not so bad. In a weekend two-ball, you notice it more.’
Asked if he’d prefer either Brooks Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau for a pint, McIlroy paused for a bit.
‘I’d say Brooks and I probably have more in common than Bryson and I do; they’re two very different characters. I don’t really drink pints, rather a good Bordeaux whenever I have the inkling.’
A Margaux would be a perfect accompaniment for the Claret Jug come Sunday night, so.
■ Rory was speaking at the launch of Golf Pass on Sky Q. For more information go to sky.com/GolfPass