Padraig Harrington's blog: Northern Trust Open - Preview

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After eight weeks off I am back in action. This year I am starting back at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. I am looking forward to getting back to tournament golf after my winter break; when I finished last year I was ready for a good break but I am chomping at the bit to get back playing.

As always when I am coming out for my first event of the year I would like to be more prepared for playing. I suppose I would like to be sharper; the first tournament of the year brings an element of the unknown.

As much as you have practiced over the winter you are just not sure what to expect - you have to get into a competitive situation and be under a little bit of pressure before you find out how your winter practice went.

My winter break was great for a number of reasons: I spent a lot of time taking it easy and doing very little, just hanging out with my family at home and enjoying that. I also spent a good bit of time working on my swing, working on the things that I put on hold for the second half of last year and I am happy with the work I have done - I am now coming out to play golf and not thinking about my swing changes.

Last year I wasn't happy with the changes, I felt that my swing was a work in progress and I kept on working on them. This year I still feel that it is a work in progress but I am more comfortable with what I have worked on and am here to play golf.

The big issue here this week is the new groove rule and the fact that the some Ping wedges are legal to use. It seems that any Ping club made before 1990 is legal to use in any tournament that is governed by the USGA, after Ping won a court case against the USGA back in the early nineties.

As a result of this, a number of players have used old Ping Wedges with box grooves this year. It has caused much discussion on the PGA Tour; some players are unhappy about it and have come out and said so and others are using the club.

I have brought some of the Ping wedges with me this week and have tested them against current day wedges with the "new" grooves that are allowed nowadays.

There was a huge difference in the spin imparted on the ball when it was coming from the rough, about 40% more spin on the Ping wedge than any wedge that is made with today's grooves, which is a huge difference when it comes to distance control.

I was never in favor of the groove change; I feel that it is penalizing aggressive players like me. It suits the players that hit a lot of fairways and greens as they don't have to chip as often. As far as the Ping issues go, my view on this is that the rules are there and you abide by them; in this situation it means that they are legal and can be used. It is no different than getting a drop; you will always look for the best option available to you. I am not going to use the wedge this week as I am waiting for guidance from the Tour as to what will happen going forward.

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