Harrington: Rivalry with Tiger only just beginning
IRELAND’S Padraig Harrington insists he has already put his triple-bogey heartbreak behind him as he turns his attention to this week’s US PGA Championship.
Harrington was one shot clear and heading for his first win of the season at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio on Sunday when disaster struck at the 16th hole.
The three-time major winner’s foray into the water allowed Tiger Woods to win their final-round duel and claim the title for the seventh time in his gilded career.
It was hardly the fillip Harrington would have wanted as he prepares to begin the defence his US PGA crown on Thursday, but the Dubliner vowed to learn from the ordeal.
“I think it’s pretty much out of my system now,” he said. “You know, I’ll probably be a better player because of it. So that’s a good thing. You learn from these things. I don’t see it being an issue. I’ve got the US PGA, bigger things ahead of me.”
Harrington, whose best finish of the season lifted him back into the world’s top 10, insisted his tussle with Tiger over a fascinating closing 18 holes would be repeated in many a future tournament.
“Tiger did play particularly well, that’s for sure,” the two-time Open champion added. “I said to him afterwards: ‘We’ll do battle many times again.’” Woods agreed, saying: “You know, Paddy and I will definitely do it again.”
They will lock horns in just two days’ time, in fact, at the US PGA at Hazeltine National, where Harrington and Woods will play the first two rounds in a group that also includes American Rich Beem.