Slumping Harrington will go back to old swing

Tees off with Tiger Woods at U.S. Open

On the eve of the U.S. Open at Bethpage , Long Island Padraig Harrington has promised to go back to basics in a bid to recapture the form that saw him win three majors in 15 months.

"I've been trying to get to the bottom of my swing, trying to figure something out. Certainly the last eight months I've been heavily focused on it," he told the Mirror newspaper.

Harrington will tee off at 8:06 a.m. with Tiger Woods on Thursday, as well as Masters champion Angle Cabrera in the marquee pairing of the first round

The Dubliner’s workaholic nature seems to have worked against him this year. In early May, he admitted in an interview with the Guardian that he had overstepped the mark a little.

"I have a tendency to get too obsessed with my golf swing, and it has been pointed out to me by several people this week that I have gone too far,'' Harrington told the English newspaper.

So much so that in the same article he admitted that an “intervention“ by his wife, caddie (and brother-in-law) Ronan Flood and sports psychologist Bob Rotella had taken place.

But, intervention or not, the stats from his 2009 U.S. PGA season to date do not make for good reading. 15 starts and only seven cuts made. Of those seven full weeks of golf, Harrington has only finished in the top 25 three times and is currently 108th on the Fedex Cup list.

Harrington’s forays on the European Tour have not been much better, failing to make the cut at the 3 Irish Open at Baltray and struggling to find his game.

NBC analyst Johnny Miller suggested in an Open preview that Harrington is trying too hard and should try and relax a little more.

The second golf major of the year starts this Thursday at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York when The U.S. Open gets under way.

​
Nster.com