Padraig Harrington faces a race against time to keep his Ryder Cup hopes alive.
Not unlike Rory McIlroy, the three-time Major winner, who is looking ahead to The Open at Royal Lytham in two weeks - hoping the putts start dropping again.
But while McIlroy’s problems are about adjusting to the slower European surfaces, Harrington has lost faith in his ability to read a putt. He is now chasing a victory in next week’s Scottish Open that would revive his chances of winning a seventh Ryder Cup cap.
Up nine spots to world No 60 after his seventh-place finish in the Irish Open, padarig said: “When the putts aren’t dropping, it is tough to gain any momentum or confidence.
“When I look back, I missed numerous opportunities.
“I hit the ball really well and I can only think of two less-than-perfect shots on Sunday. It is nice to have that going forward. The game is good and I’m hitting the ball as well as I have ever hit it. But I have got to hole putts.
“The good thing about the Irish Open is that I kept hitting good putts, no matter how lost I was in terms of confidence in the reading of the greens.
“I am not thinking there is too much wrong. I just need to get one of those weeks where you see the lines and trust it.
“If you see one or two putts going in, you think you know everything.”
A win at Castle Stuart could put him inside the 10 automatic qualifiers for Jose Maria Olazabal’s Ryder Cup team through the world rankings.
Following the Irish Open, he is 24th in European Ryder Cup Points List and just over a million points outside the top five.
But he could find himself inside the qualifiers if he wins the Scottish Open as he is now 21st in the Ryder Cup World Points list behind Rafael Cabrera Bello, who moved into the automatic places following his share of second place at Royal Portrush.
The Dubliner has been frustrated by his near-misses in terms of getting world ranking points on the board recently.
Recalling his costly final-hole bogey at the US Open, he said: “If you look at the last four weeks, every week has been a bit of a fail when it comes to earning points.
“I lost twice the points that I got for bogeying the last at the US Open. That’s a sore subject.
“I need a win to make this Ryder Cup team and I suppose getting back in the world top 50 would help as it would get me into the Bridgestone Invitational and give me an extra tournament for Ryder Cup qualification.
“But a win is what I need to get into that Ryder Cup team, so for the next two weeks, I will be concentrating on links golf.
“I am pretty confident going to Royal Lytham. The game is good.
“If I stay patient maybe I will hole the putts the week of The Open and won’t be worried about missing them this week.
“The game is like that. You hole a few putts and you start believing in the line and it’s easier to hole the next putt.
“I will try to stay patient and let it happen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment