PADRAIG HARRINGTON PHOTO COPYRIGHT MATT HOOPER 2022
20 july, 2022 - shank media, by matt hooper: IT IS 12 YEARS SINCE A PLAYER WON BOTH THE US SENIOR OPEN AND SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, UNSURPRISINGLY THAT PLAYER WAS BERNHARD LANGER. THE GERMAN HAS DOMINATED THE OVER-50'S GAME SINCE BECOMING ELIGIBLE, WINNING A REMARKABLE 11 SENIOR MAJORS. THIS WEEK PADRAIG HARRINGTON IS VIEWED BY MANY AS HAVING A GREAT CHANCE OF EMULATING HIS FORMER RYDER CUP COLLEAGUE AND CAPTAIN, FOLLOWING HIS WIN IN THE US SENIOR OPEN AT SAUCON VALLEY LAST MONTH.
THE IRISHMAN HAS BECOME KNOWN FOR THE SPEED WITH WHICH HE SWINGS THE CLUB, RESULTING IN PRODIGIOUS DISTANCES FOR A PLAYER OF HIS AGE, AND THAT IS SEEN AS BEING THE KEY TO UNLOCKING BIRDIE OPPORTUNITIES AROUND THE PAR-70 KINGS COURSE AT GLENEAGLES. THE 2ND, 6TH, 7TH, 10TH, 12TH, 13TH, 15TH, 17TH AND 18TH ARE ALL SUSCEPTIBLE TO BIG HITTING. IF THE WIND DOESN'T BLOW THERE'S A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF A LOW SCORE THIS WEEK, WITH THE COURSE PLAYING FIRM AND FAST. THE KINGS COURSE IS ALSO MUCH MORE RECEPTIVE THAN THE OLD COURSE WAS FOR THE 150TH OPEN, AND HARRINGTON COULD HAVE MID TO SHORT IRONS IN TO MANY OF THE HOLES FOR HIS SECOND SHOTS.
A WIN FOR THE IRISHMAN THIS WEEK WOULD SEE HIM MATCH PAUL LAWRIE BY WINNING TITLES AT THE OLD COURSE, CARNOUSTIE AND GLENEAGLES. HARRINGTON WON THE 2002 AND 2006 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP AT ST ANDREWS, BEFORE LIFTING THE FIRST OF TWO CLARET JUGS AT CARNOUSTIE IN 2007, AND COULD BAG HIMSELF HIS OWN TREBLE OF WINS ON SCOTLAND'S ICONIC COURSES WITH VICTORY IN THE SENIOR OPEN.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s my first year on the Tour, I’ve had a few good runs, obviously winning the U.S. Senior Open was nice to get a win, I had three second places coming up to that" SAID THE IRISHMAN.
"It’s interesting because it depends on the golf courses. Some of the courses suit me and I have a particularly good chance those weeks. I look at this one this week, a lot of the tee shots are downhill, there’s a lot of irons, five woods off the tee so I think it’s a tougher task this week to get a win. Whoever plays the best, whoever holes the best will do that, but I wouldn’t be jumping out this week and saying this is the course made in heaven for me. Saucon Valley was very suitable for me.
“I'm still trying to be a young guy and still trying to compete with the young guys, and very much a part of the modern game is you've got to be powerful out there. I've held my position throughout my career in terms of relative to the field. I'm in the same position now.
"I hit the golf further now than I've ever hit it but relatively I feel I'm in the same place I've always been. It gives me hope when I tee it up in events like The Open last week. I do find at a regular event, I'm always under a little bit of pressure to be at my very best. It's very hard to be at your very best when you think you can't take any mistakes. You know, mistakes happen more often when you feel like you can't handle them.
"So at a regular event, it's tough, but in my head, the only thing that lets me down at an event is not the physical side. It would be the mental side or moving into the short game, maybe my putting.
"I come to an event like this, and I don't need it here. I know some people have talked there's two holes with carries but every other tee shot is straight downhill here. It's a great course. Every tee shot is downhill and every second shot is uphill, nearly."
"It’s interesting because it depends on the golf courses. Some of the courses suit me and I have a particularly good chance those weeks. I look at this one this week, a lot of the tee shots are downhill, there’s a lot of irons, five woods off the tee so I think it’s a tougher task this week to get a win. Whoever plays the best, whoever holes the best will do that, but I wouldn’t be jumping out this week and saying this is the course made in heaven for me. Saucon Valley was very suitable for me.
“I'm still trying to be a young guy and still trying to compete with the young guys, and very much a part of the modern game is you've got to be powerful out there. I've held my position throughout my career in terms of relative to the field. I'm in the same position now.
"I hit the golf further now than I've ever hit it but relatively I feel I'm in the same place I've always been. It gives me hope when I tee it up in events like The Open last week. I do find at a regular event, I'm always under a little bit of pressure to be at my very best. It's very hard to be at your very best when you think you can't take any mistakes. You know, mistakes happen more often when you feel like you can't handle them.
"So at a regular event, it's tough, but in my head, the only thing that lets me down at an event is not the physical side. It would be the mental side or moving into the short game, maybe my putting.
"I come to an event like this, and I don't need it here. I know some people have talked there's two holes with carries but every other tee shot is straight downhill here. It's a great course. Every tee shot is downhill and every second shot is uphill, nearly."
SELECTED TEE TIMES FOR ROUND ONE
0900 Sandy Lyle, David Duval, Robert Maxfield (am)
0920 Padraig Harrington, Corey Pavin, Retief Goosen
0930 Bernhard Langer, Jeev Milkha Singh, Steven Alker
0940 Colin Montgomerie, Jerry Kelly, Miguel Angel Jimenez
1310 Vijay Singh, Peter Baker, John Bickerton
1320 Rich Beem, YE Yang, Doug Barron
1340 Stephen Dodd, James Kingston, Thongchai Jaidee
1350 Alex Cejka, Darren Clarke, Jose Maria Olazabal
1400 Paul Lawrie, Thomas Bjorn, Ernie Els
1410 Paul McGinley, Ian Woosnam, Michael Campbell
ERNIE ELS. PHOTO COPYRIGHT MATT HOOPER 2022.
ERNIE ELS PLAYED THE KINGS COURSE WHEN THE BELL'S SCOTTISH OPEN WAS STAGED HERE IN HIS EARLY YEARS ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN 4-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION AND FORMER WORLD NUMBER ONE WOULD LOVE TO ADD A SENIOR CLARET JUG TO HIS INCREDIBLE HAUL OF TROPHIES OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS.
ELS HAS WON TWO TITLES ON THE PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS AND MAYBE WITH THE YEAR ENDING IN 2 HE COULD ADD TO HIS MAJOR COLLECTION. IN 2002 AT MUIRFIELD ELS WON HIS FIRST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, DEFEATING THOMAS LEVET, STEVE ELKINGTON AND STUART APPLEBY IN A FOUR-HOLE PLAYOFF. THEN 10 YEARS LATER HE CLAIMED AN UNEXPECTED SECOND CLARET JUG AFTER LEADER ADAM SCOTT FALTERED OVER THE CLOSING FOUR HOLES AT ROYAL LYTHAM. EVEN GOING BACK TO 1992, ELS ENJOYED A BREAKOUT YEAR, WINNING THE SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN, SOUTH AFRICAN PGA, SOUTH AFRICAN MASTERS AND 3 OTHER TOURNAMENTS ON THE SUNSHINE TOUR.
MAYBE IN 2022 ELS COULD CREATE MORE HISTORY HERE AT GLENEAGLES.
BERNHARD LANGER. PHOTO COPYRIGHT MATT HOOPER 2022.
BERNHARD LANGER ARRIVES AT GLENEAGLES LOOKING TO WIN A RECORD FIFTH SENIOR OPEN TITLE, THE GERMAN, A WINNER OF 11 SENIOR MAJOR TITLES, ALSO PLAYED HERE DURING THE BELL'S SCOTTISH OPEN BETWEEN 1987 AND 1994. LANGER WON HIS FIRST SENIOR OPEN AT CARNOUSTIE IN 2010 AND WOULD NO DOUBT LOVE TO ADD GLORY AT GLENEAGLES TO HIS INCREDIBLE CAREER RECORD.
THE 64-YEAR-OLD HAS WON 44 TIMES ACROSS THE PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS AND LEGENDS TOUR, IN ADDITION TO OVER 50 WINS ON THE REGULAR TOURS AROUND THE WORLD SINCE TURNING PRO 50 YEARS AGO. REMARKABLY IN A 50-YEAR CAREER LANGER HAS WON 119 TIMES, AVERAGING OVER 2 WINS PER YEAR AND THIS YEAR'S SENIOR OPEN COULD BE THE 120TH VICTORY OF HIS LIFE.
JERRY KELLY. PHOTO COPYRIGHT MATT HOOPER 2022.
JERRY KELLY COMES TO GLENEAGLES OFF THE BACK OF WINNING HIS SECOND SENIOR MAJOR TITLE, THE 55-YEAR-OLD WON THE SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, AT FIRESTONE COUNTRY CLUB, FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 3 YEARS EARLIER THIS MONTH, AND HAS WON 10 TIMES ON THE PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS.
