Pádraig Harrington comes roaring into Celtic Manor in Wales this week for the Ryder Cup after a record-equalling 64 in his last round of golf in Paris at the Vivenedi trophy.
Even allowing for his stellar final round however, Harrington still felt there was room for improvement.
“I’m just a bit disappointed that I left a lot of shots out there,” said Harrington. “It’s nice to shoot a good score but certainly I could have been several better today. It would have been nice to post a score that would make the leaders have to think about it coming home.”
However,he believes his form is coming right for the Ryder Cup.
“The week before a big event is all about seeing where your game is at, seeing what needs to be worked on. Where I struggled with my putting early on in the week, I think it was quite sharp today. Definitely I don’t have as much to do from Monday to Thursday next week to get ready,” he added.
He also addressed the fact that he was a captain’s pick which has rubbed some media the wrong way.
“In the end of the day it’s impossible to prove any point like that, everybody’s going to have their own opinions and most people will be pretty committed to their own opinion so there’s no point in me trying to prove people right or wrong,” he said.
“I’ve got to do my own thing, play my own game. It’s not something I can control so it’s best to stay away from it. I haven’t read any of the press, I never do, so it’s best to just play my game and see what happens, it’s all I can do.”
He also thought back to his Ryder Cup debut in 1999.
“It’s a totally different experience, in ’99 I was a rookie and qualified very late, in the last event actually, I think I holed a putt on the last green. My head was spinning for the whole week, it’s hard to believe I can even remember it I was so excited all the way through the week.
“This time around and obviously having got a pick it’s a totally different feeling going into it. Certainly the last one I was very tired, it was tough. I fought against a lot of things that week, fought my own game and I wanted to rest more, it was an awkward week anyway.
“This time around, no, I’m heading there now, I’m getting in early, I want to do things, I’m enthusiastic, I’m ready to go. Whereas other years you come in to the Ryder Cup you’ve had a long year, this year there’s no feelings like that, I’m excited to get there.”
He said he does not care who he is paired with “I’ll set tle for playing with
any of my 11 team-mates on Friday. In fairness, it’s a very strong team, we have rookies on the team but they are some of our better players. It’s one of those teams that I’d be very happy to tee it up in on Friday.
“I know Monty said we’re all going to play on Friday so that’s nice. But you never really know with a Ryder Cup until you get out there and play the first day.
“You could play very well and play all the matches or play average and play a couple of the matches. It’s one of those things, it’s a good idea to give us all a run on the first day and see how we are bearing up to the Ryder Cup pressure and the golf course and everything else that goes with it.”
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