Ireland’s Padraig Harrington hopes to rediscover his spark as he lines up in the KLM Open for the first time since 2002 at Kennemer this week.
The Irishman has recorded just two top-ten finishes on The European Tour this season after lacking the consistency to put four strong rounds together.
The 42 year old, without a European Tour title since collecting his third Major at the 2008 US PGA Championship, feels his game is in the right shape to contend again – but admits he needs to find a way to bring some intensity onto the course.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well in practice, just not putting it together out on the course,” said Harrington.
“I hit the ball well on the range and feel quite comfortable about my game, but then don’t live up to expectations when I’ve got a card in my hand.
“Whenever I’ve played my best golf in the past, I’ve generally felt quite fearful about the state of my game. I tended to get quite tense and focused, and as a result I played much better, but because there’s no fear at the moment, I’m not bringing much of a spark out onto the course.
“It’s just something I’m going to have to manage to figure out, but I’m definitely working at it; I never stop working at this game.”
The links-style set-up is likely to suit two-time Open Champion Harrington, although the former Ryder Cup star admits recent heavy rain in the Netherlands has made the course more challenging.
“It’s nice to play any National Open,” Harrington added. “I played the course yesterday, and it’s fantastic, I couldn’t say anything bad about it; it’s as good a course as you’ll ever see.
“It’s great to play the older courses, and this one proves that over time, courses can mature into real beauties. It’ll be a slightly different challenge this week with it playing softer after all the rain they’ve had here, so controlling your ball flight will be key.
“A few times in practice I pitched the ball on the front third of the green, and it spun back 20 or 30 yards off the green. It’s okay to do that in practice, but you don’t want to be doing it during the tournament. Obviously if the greens were firmer that wouldn’t be a problem, but like any great golf course, the type of test is dependent on the conditions. Ideally the course would be playing firm and fast, but as I say we’ll be presented with a slightly different challenge this week.
“Controlling the ball flight in those cross winds is going to be the key to low scoring this week. A player who is able to keep his ball flight low this week is at a significant advantage to someone who hits the ball high in the air, so that’s definitely something I’m going to be working on.”
