Rejuvenated Harrington "in a good place now"
Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Harrington insists he's "in a good place" as he bids to become the PG Tour's latest golden oldie winner in the 50th anniversary AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas.
The Dubliner (46) will be trying to follow in the footsteps of Phil Mickelson — winner of the WGC- Mexico Championship at 47 earlier this season — when he joins Seamus Power and Graeme McDowell at an inland links style Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
But he won't be overtrying having seen past greats fall into that trap.
"I’ve seen guys get to the twilight of their career and they are out there trying too hard for no return," said Harrington, who is joined by seven of the world's top 50 — Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Sergio Garcia, Marc Leishman, Matt Kuchar, Satoshi Kodaira and Branden Grace.
"I don’t want to be that old codger where the young guys are looking at me thinking ‘will he ever take it easy and take a step back?’
"I want to be competitive. I’m in a good place now. Three years ago I couldn’t keep that going."
Harrington might not be averse to backing himself, even if the US Supreme Court ruling striking down a federal law banning sports betting outside Nevada only arrived on Monday.
1st round of @attbyronnelson with @TheBig_Easy and @RodPampling tomorrow. It’s not often now that I’m the youngest in the group. #PGATOUR
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) May 16, 2018
After playing well alongside Shane Lowry in the recent Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he's looking forward to a big run of events with the BMW PGA, US Open qualifying and the Italian Open next on his schedule.
"I know I am ready to have a few good weeks," he said.
In a field featuring a host of veterans and former Major winners such as David Duval, Angel Cabrera, Harrington was feeling a little better about his age when he was drawn with Ernie Els and Australian Rod Pampling, who are both 48. Tee-times
"It’s not often now that I’m the youngest in the group," he quipped on twitter.
There are no Irish players in the field at the Belgian Knockout — 36 holes of regular stroke play before 64 players progress to a weekend of nine-hole knockout matches, also with a stroke play format – meaning every match will go to the final hole.
