Padraig Harrington is off to a fine start today at this years 100th PGA US Golf Championship at Pebble Beach.

After finishing the back nine, he is three over par and only five shots off the leader , soren Kjeldsen, Padraig is tied for 43rd. After he birdied the tenth hole, a 390-yard par three, Harrington bogied 15, 16, and 17 and two.

The Irishman, whose strong odds to win the tournament are listed at 25:1, felt very confident  coming into this weeks Open. “Am I capable of winning? Yes. No problem about that. I've probably shown better form coming into this major than I have any of the three I've won.”

Harrington fell short of predicting a victory. He said "I'm looking for something to fall into place and get me across that line. I'm hopeful rather than expectant."

Harrington also feels the course record, 15 under par set by Tiger Woods in 2000, can be bested.

"Is there any record that stands forever? No. At the end of the day, while it's phenomenal in this day and age, it's going to change…So I have to think, yes, it will be broken eventually."

The record, he feels, is not in jeopardy at this years tournament which runs from June 14th through the June 20th.

There are players, Harrington feels, who could break this record but are not quite ready. “..there's kids in college now, phenomenal talents, and maybe they won't break it because there will be two of them playing that well," he said.

Who knows? Maybe it’ll be Harrington breaking that record himself. He needs to pick up his pace to do so.