What happened to Harrington?

darkman2

We know he still has it. Of course he does. But it is so disappointing that in the last couple of years he has fallen off the radar. What is behind all his disappointing performances do you think? I did hear he changed his swing or something -


God knows why - this seems like it was only yesterday! In my view one of the best golf shots of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w86X4wjjhw

soundsham

darkman2 wrote: »

We know he still has it. Of course he does. But it is so disappointing that in the last couple of years he has fallen off the radar. What is behind all his disappointing performances do you think? I did hear he changed his swing or something -


God knows why - this seems like it was only yesterday! In my view one of the best golf shots of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w86X4wjjhw

He played badly
Missed some cuts

Opics

Did he try and change his swing OP? I hadn't heard!!

Beanmachine

He's not from the north

irish_man

Yeah OP, I often wonder the same thing.

I was lucky enough to go to the open champ on Thursday and I watch pretty much ever hole he played. (I think I missed the 13th) His driving that day was fairly erratic. His drive in the 14th was 2 feet from hitting me. I don't know if they showed it on tv but he was way left. He has always been a great scrambler. On that same hole he recovered and missed a birdie putt. I think that shows his resilience.

I think if he got his driving sorted out and held his nerve on his short putts he could be right up there again. He started off badly on the 1st on Thursday with a 8/9 footer for par which he missed. That was a real confidence knocker.

Hopefully he comes back and is as good as he ever was.

BiffoGooner

He's a neurotic kind of character, simple as. After he won the Majors he tried to change his swing in a search for perfection, in a game where perfection doesn't exist. He could have won a few more if he'd left well enough alone.

murphdogg11

The slide continues...... now down to no. 62 in rankings.

Nerdstrom

I know this story has been done to death but people seem to have short memories:

PH has 'changed his swing' every winter/off season since his late teens, when he was a top class amateur. Some years the differences were more dramatic, for example when he played the US open ( I think for the first time) around the mid-late 90s he finished t32nd. And when he came back he realised that he had gotten the best out of his game, played well, but was way off the pace.

To compete at that level in the US he had to hit the ball longer with all clubs, and hit irons with a higher trajectory than before. It was at this point that he visited Bob torrance for his services, and we all know of the fruit that came from this relationship. Within 10 years or so he had gradually become a world class ball striker, and when this coincided with (my favourite trait in a sportsman) his grinding, gritty, never say die attitude he was extremely hard to beat at any level, just ask mr Garcia about that.

So when I hear the worn out question; Why would he change his swing after winning all the majors?

I really dont think these people will understand that that is the nature of the beast. Thats the way he is, and he would NEVER have won any majors if he didnt have this strict plan of action every year, and follow it religiously, working on all aspects of the game.

As for the question asked by the OP, unfrtunately I dont know what has happened to PH's form, and I dont think anyone does. its hard for us fans to watch him show us every now and again signs of being close to recovery, but then go out and miss a cut in a major or hit one or two hugely destructive shots to take him out of contention, eg the two thin lob wedge shots in 2009. I think one was in the pga champ on sunday while he was going well, and the other was going toe to toe with tiger in a wgc just before woods' fall from grace.

Surely a player of his quality will come back to close to his best, and when he does we will all enjoy it. I think patience is the key for us PH fans

Uncle Mclovin

Good post there Nerdstrom. Looking forward to seeing Padraig get back to his best as soon as possible.

Aidric

He'll be outside the worlds top 100 by the end of the year imo.

Martin567

Excellent post by Nerdstrom above. I agree with every word and have made similar points in the past.

Over the last few months, his short game and in particular his putting seem to be more of a problem than his long game. He was never the straightest off the tee but his short game would compensate for that. He is simply not holing as many putts at the moment. He was quoted as saying that he hit the ball brilliantly on Friday but his putting was awful. He needs to get that confidence back.

Surely Darren Clarke's win yesterday just goes to prove that you can never write anyone off. I think he was ranked No 111 in the world last week, now up to No 30. If I had suggested a few weeks ago that Darren could still win a Major, I'm sure I would have been ridiculed by some of the experts on here. You just never know.

Padraig doesn't have to worry about entry into the Majors up to the end of 2013. However, if his ranking doesn't start to rise soon, he won't be in the field for any of the WGC events next year. This will make it almost impossible for him to maintain full membership on both Tours. He may have to give up his US Tour card and play more in Europe which may not be a bad thing.

MungoMan

Age is a bit of a factor, he'll be 40 in August, not many golfers are as consistent at 40 compared to when they were 30.

Look at the top 50 in the world. How many are older than PH ?
I count about 10 only. Harrington has had more success than all of them apart from Phil.

Looks like he can't be faulted for attitude or effort, maybe it's a case that he is simply not as good as he was. Maybe it's nothing to do with tinkering his swing or the difficulty motivating yourself after winning 3 majors.

Sports people in every sport do decline as they get older.

On saying that, he has a few years where he could do something great again. Clearly he is analytical and determined and hard working. He should take a lot of confidence from seeing Darren win at 42.

The_Kew_Tour

I know it may seem wide of the mark now but I think PH will win a major again within the next 4-5 years..

Call me bonkers if ya like, I just have a feeling he come back to form again.

BiffoGooner

Well if Darren Clarke can come back from where he was to win a Major, Paddy certainly can, aye.

Nolanger

Maybe he's feeling left out with all the Nordie winners? Must be lonely being the ROI's only decent golfer?

Opics

Nolanger wrote: »

Maybe he's feeling left out with all the Nordie winners? Must be lonely being the ROI's only decent golfer?

ROI have plenty 'decent' golfers

Corkblowin

Opics wrote: »

ROI have plenty 'decent' golfers

I agree with most here - Paddys not too far away, but what frustrates me for an intelligent guy is his constant desire for more length off the tee. He seems obsessed with pounding it out there - which means his misses are worse and more pressure comes onto his short game - which can't save you all the time. If he starts doubting that then he's sunk!

It's really obvious to me on the par 5's - I'm actually surprised these days when he birdies one - his disasters in most of the majors seem to come at them too. - Augusta, firestone, sawgrass - when he tries to knock a big one out there & get on in two. If he's level over the 16 par 5's in a 4 day tournament & someone else birdies 2 a day that's 8 shots!! Id love to see his stats for that - they must be somewhere.

bm1993

For the last couple of years I was convinced that PH would recover his game and win more majors but I don't really see it now. He changed his swing at the end of 2008. He then had a poor start to the 2009 season however towards the end of that season he played extremely well at Firestone in the WGC event when he was unlucky to lose out to Woods after 1 bad hole. Likewise in the PGA he played well and could have won if not for the 8 at a par 3. So at that point it seemed like the swing changes had possibly worked. But 2 years on from 2009 he is a far worse player to the point where people are surprised if he makes the cut never mind contend. What happened to his short game? He used to be able to get up and down from anywhere. I'd love to see him win more and Darren Clarke has shown it's possible but I have my reservations. Sure even if he won the PGA he'd probably change his bloody swing again!

dvemail

I thought after his exploits at the Irish Open last year he would have kicked on from there and got himself back contending. Instead, unfortunately he has just gotten worse.
Maybe the crowd in Killarney can spur him on again.

Corkblowin

Good old Americans - stats for everything!

Par 5 Scoring average 4.79 (T155th) - Stricker leads @ 4.49. So basically he's giving stricker a shot every round.

Funnily enough his greens in regulation are better this year than the last few - its just that when he misses he does it properly!

bob50

As far as i can see i think hes finished and has been for the last two years Cant see any comeback for him

We do have other golfers here anyway

Nerdstrom

bm1993 wrote: »

For the last couple of years I was convinced that PH would recover his game and win more majors but I don't really see it now. He changed his swing at the end of 2008. He then had a poor start to the 2009 season however towards the end of that season he played extremely well at Firestone in the WGC event when he was unlucky to lose out to Woods after 1 bad hole. Likewise in the PGA he played well and could have won if not for the 8 at a par 3. So at that point it seemed like the swing changes had possibly worked. But 2 years on from 2009 he is a far worse player to the point where people are surprised if he makes the cut never mind contend. What happened to his short game? He used to be able to get up and down from anywhere. I'd love to see him win more and Darren Clarke has shown it's possible but I have my reservations. Sure even if he won the PGA he'd probably change his bloody swing again!

Yes he would change his bloody swing again. He changes his swing every year.

I know this story has been done to death but people seem to have short memories:

PH has 'changed his swing' every winter/off season since his late teens, when he was a top class amateur. Some years the differences were more dramatic, for example when he played the US open ( I think for the first time) around the mid-late 90s he finished t32nd. And when he came back he realised that he had gotten the best out of his game, played well, but was way off the pace.

To compete at that level in the US he had to hit the ball longer with all clubs, and hit irons with a higher trajectory than before. It was at this point that he visited Bob torrance for his services, and we all know of the fruit that came from this relationship. Within 10 years or so he had gradually become a world class ball striker, and when this coincided with (my favourite trait in a sportsman) his grinding, gritty, never say die attitude he was extremely hard to beat at any level, just ask mr Garcia about that.

So when I hear the worn out question; Why would he change his swing after winning all the majors?

I really dont think these people will understand that that is the nature of the beast. Thats the way he is, and he would NEVER have won any majors if he didnt have this strict plan of action every year, and follow it religiously, working on all aspects of the game.

As for the question asked by the OP, unfrtunately I dont know what has happened to PH's form, and I dont think anyone does. its hard for us fans to watch him show us every now and again signs of being close to recovery, but then go out and miss a cut in a major or hit one or two hugely destructive shots to take him out of contention, eg the two thin lob wedge shots in 2009. I think one was in the pga champ on sunday while he was going well, and the other was going toe to toe with tiger in a wgc just before woods' fall from grace.

Surely a player of his quality will come back to close to his best, and when he does we will all enjoy it. I think patience is the key for us PH fans

Good old Americans - stats for everything!

Par 5 Scoring average 4.79 (T155th) - Stricker leads @ 4.49. So basically he's giving stricker a shot every round.

Funnily enough his greens in regulation are better this year than the last few - its just that when he misses he does it properly!

Excellent observation corkblowin, i never would have copped that, or checked the stat. You would think being such a long driver of the ball, coupled with his natural ability with all wedge shots, he would feast on the par 5s

foxyboxer

The parallels with Nick Faldo are there to see. Faldo fell off the radar in 1997. The valderamma ryder cup was his swansong. He never really competed again having just won the Masters 18 months prior. Off course ventures played their part but it was a case of Faldo simply not being long enough. Fantastic swing, but coupled with advancing age and the equipment arms race, Faldo was left behind.

Harringtons best chance to win another major is certainly the Open. We've just seen the oldest winner since Roberto Di Vicenzo in the 60's and still see the likes of Calcavecchia and Watson competing. The premium on length is not as important as shotmaking. But with finishing holes at the US Open of for example 523 yard par 4's :eek: and courses regularly pushing 7,500 yards, then Harrington's length and accuracy would be too severely tested. (i.e. you'd get loooooong odd's on Watson winning at Atlantic next month).

Hopefully it all clicks into place for him soon, there would not be a more popular winner i think.

Sport101

He just needs to start smoking.

the groutch

definitely think he needs to give up his US tourcard, spend a year or so playing only the European Tour & the majors.

shamrock55

ever since he done the laser eye surgery add he aint won jack:D

JerryHandbag

He hits the big FOUR ZERO next month, many golfers have played their best golf in their forties (Singh, Stricker, Jimenez, Kenny Perry) so he should take inspiration from them and of course Clarke winning the Open. I can see him doing well at Killarney again but he needs to kick on this time, and he did have an awful lot of scrambling and miraculous escapes with his 2nd place last year.

saintastic

Interesting to hear the comments about his putting. Fair enough, he didn't putt well at The Open but he's 22nd in Strokes Gained which is pretty good. The less said about the rest, the better!


Driving Distance

59th

Driving Accuracy Percentage

179th

Greens in Regulation Percentage

103rd

Strokes Gained - Putting

22nd

Eagles (Holes per)

95th

Birdie Average

100th

Scoring Average

78th

Sand Save Percentage

53rd

Total Driving

163rd

All-Around Ranking

93rd

FedExCup Regular Season Points

123rd

Money Leaders

108th

Par Breakers

103rd

GIR Pct. - Fairway Bunker

66th

the groutch

shamrock55 wrote: »

ever since he done the laser eye surgery add he aint won jack:D

should have gone to specsavers

Nolanger

shamrock55 wrote: »

ever since he done the laser eye surgery add he aint won jack:D

Could be due to dry eyes irritation or light sensitivity when he's playing in tournaments?

Hoppermcgrath

Harrington had an extraordinary 14 months or so when he won the 3 majors and huge, huge respect to him for doing so, but prior to that he was never a hugely prolific winner (Jimenez has won more on the Euro Tour and Clarke has the same number of wins) and I think he excelled himself in winning the 3.

There are only a dozen or so golfers who have ever won more than 3 majors and without exception they are the creme de la creme. Even other guys who have in recent times won 3 (Els and Singh) and less than that (Langer, Lyle, Olazabal) I think were better players in their day than Harrington ever was.

While it is disappointing how his career has gone into reverse I think it was unrealistic to ever expect him to carry on in the vein of being a consistent major winner and maybe the pressure to try to be has taken it's toll.