THE 150TH OPEN

July 14, 2022

Padraig Harrington

Mixed Zone

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It seems like the scoring around me wasn't very good. Seemed like it was maybe a bit tougher when we were going out there. So that helped I stuck in there.

I knew there Would be a few birdies that you could make when you drive greens and things like that. And, so, yeah, I stayed patient and topped those birdies on 9, 12, 14 and 18.

Q. The way you finished, the missed short putt on 16 was followed by a wonderful up-and-down on 17 from a pretty desperate-looking situation off the tee, and then you made the birdie on 18. Must have been satisfying to finish a more than six-hour round like that?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I got tired. When I missed the putt on 16, I couldn't see a way home to the clubhouse (laughter). I was not in a good place.

It was a long day. I didn't need to miss that putt. I know my own rounds I struggled. I've seen that of late at the last couple of holes. It's tough to finish off a few rounds. So missing the putt on 16 really did deflate me.

It was hard going those last couple of holes, all the stopping and starting and trying to -- you know, when you're 50 years of age, it's hard to Rolls Royce it on every swing.

Q. One thing about the way the round unfolded because of the fact that it was so slow, so painstaking, was it almost more difficult in terms of fatigue, the mental effort that had to be put in concentrating for every shot, with so many gaps, 15, 20-minute gaps sometimes between shots?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, physically, as I said, it's a little tough for me at the moment. I've got a bit of an injury, and 18 holes is a long day let alone when you're waiting around and then you're trying to warm up for each shot, stay as sharp as you can.

So I think I did a very good job up until the pitch on -- maybe even the drive on 16 was a little sloppy, and then the second shot was definitely -- yeah, I might not have got the best bounce. But when you end up on your arse, you're always wrong. I probably should have played a different shot.

Yeah, it was a long way home for those last two holes.

Q. The injury, is it the old knee problem, or is it something else?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It manifests itself in the knee, but there's a lot going on in the leg. So I'm getting good physio on it, and I definitely see improvement with the physio. I'm not concerned with it -- less concerned with it going forward.

Q. You know everything about what the challenge is over four days of an Open. We know you know about St Andrews. You won here at the Dunhill in different circumstances. You're right in there, 69. There are only three players better than 68. How do you feel about where you are right now?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I don't feel like I could have done much more this afternoon. That's all I could do. I'm quite comfortable where my game is at. And as Ronan said to me, my caddie, we're just waiting for that round to start again. It might start this week; it mightn't. But everything is in order for good things to happen.

Q. How tired are you right now? You look shattered?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I'm shattered. I'm really tired. I've got a headache. I'm hungry. I've got pizza waiting for me there. Good old manager has two pizzas actually right there.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to eating and getting some physio. And the tee time is obviously very nice and sociable tomorrow at 9:47. So not too bad with that.