Torrance Backs Harrington for Lytham

After finishing eighth in the Masters and fourth in the US Open, the odds on Padraig Harrington winning a third Open title in six years have come tumbling down.

In most of the betting markets he is rated fifth favourite behind Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. It would be the Dubliner's fourth major in all if he does it at Royal Lytham on Sunday - but the first since he decided last summer to end his long relationship with coach Bob Torrance.

Torrance - the 80-year-old father of former Ryder Cup captain Sam - admitted to disappointment, even some hurt, at being let go, but he said: "I know everybody told Padraig he was off his head to split up with me. But he's just determined to prove everybody else wrong. That's all he wants to do and I'll be delighted if he gets back to where he was."

Harrington, after all, had once told Torrance that he would still want him there in a wheelchair if it ever came to that and described him as a genius.

But, despite wishing the split had not come like it did, Torrance wants nothing but the best for the Irishman.

He said: "I always still look for his name and his score. Not before my own players, but I always look.

"Padraig's a very nice chap. He's very determined, very dedicated - more than anybody I've known in the game with the exception of (Ben) Hogan."

Harrington originally went to Torrance because he had seen and admired the work he had done with Paul McGinley's swing. There was much to be done, Torrance decided, but the Irishman's willingness to put in the hours speeded up the process.

"We used to put him up in our house - it became known as 'Padraig's Room' - and I remember one time during the winter we were out in snow and sleet.

"He'd say 'I'll just do another 10 balls, Bob, and that will do'. Well, I stopped counting because he kept going and going. He eventually said 'you'll not see many guys practising in this' and I said 'Aye - and you'll not see many coaches either!"

Rory Reckons it's the Right Time

Rory McIlroy believes he has peaked at just the right time for the year’s third Major as he prepares for The Open Championship.

The Northern Irishman, who became World Number One with his Honda Classic victory earlier in the year before being usurped by Luke Donald, had his best European Tour finish since March when he was tenth at The Irish Open at the start of the month.

And now the former US Open Champion has his sights firmly set on The Claret Jug at Royal Lytham.

“Preparation has gone well,” he said. “I played the course Thursday and Friday last week, got two really good looks at it. Went back out Monday and played 18 holes, so I’ve got a few good looks at the place and feel like I know what I'm doing out there now.

“I'm excited to get started. It will just be nice to get going on Thursday, because I feel like I've been waiting for it for almost a week now. 

“I feel like I'm hitting the ball great. I think it's the best I've swung the club all year and I've done a lot of work on that. It's a case of keeping the ball in play, keeping it out of the bunkers and out of the rough. Not only if I can do that, but if anyone can do that in this field, they've got a great chance.”

With 206 bunkers littering the Fylde Coast course, precision from the tee is likely to be a key factor, and World Number Two McIlroy acknowledges he may have to rein in his aggressive instincts at times.

“The thing I like about this course is that it gives you a lot of definition,” he added. “You have targets to hit at and you've got targets to work it off, and it's one of the great things about this course.“I think it's just knowing the times when to be aggressive and when not to be. With the way the conditions are at the minute with the greens being slightly softer, there are more chances out there to be aggressive.

“You're going to have to be very smart off the tees here and plot your way around, just to navigate your way through all these fairway bunkers. If you can do that and put your ball in the fairway, you do have chances to be aggressive going into some of the greens.”

GMAC Focused on Finding Fairways

With 206 bunkers sprinkled around the links of Royal Lytham & St Annes, Graeme McDowell is fully aware of the importance of finding the fairway in this year’s Open Championship.

The Northern Irishman, who was runner up in last month’s US Open Championship, has been working on his bunker play lately, which he feels has not been up to his usual standard so far this season.

But should he find trouble in The Open Championship, McDowell plans to take inspiration from the legendary Lytham performances of Seve Ballesteros, who took scrambling to a new level as he tamed the pothole bunkers, and even the car park, en route to winning the Claret Jug over the Lancashire links in 1977 and again in 1988.

“I was watching a show on Sky Sports the other night where Seve was talking about playing at Lytham and the importance of staying out of all the bunkers,” said McDowell. 

“He was interviewed after he won the Claret Jug and he said ‘They say I get into too many bunkers. But it’s s no problem, I’m the best bunker player!’.

“To be honest, I’ve been a bit disappointed with my own bunker play this year so that is something I have been working on before Lytham.

“It is a threader’s course and I’m driving the ball pretty well. That showed up again at the US Open when I drove it pretty straight. At Lytham you’ll have to place it well off the tee.” 

McDowell has taken confidence from his performance at Olympic Club last month when he came so close to winning his second US Open Championship, following his victory at Pebble Beach two years ago.

The 32 year old Ryder Cup player has repeated the same preparation routine – visiting the course the week prior to the Championship – and is quietly confident of his chances of following in the footsteps of compatriot Darren Clarke as Open Champion.

“What I found at Olympic this year, when the golf course becomes such a difficult test, it's beneficial to visit it the week before,” he said. “Memphis was probably the best cut I ever missed as it got me into Olympic early. I was able to do my homework. I played the golf course three times before the tournament and I think that was beneficial, because it was such a tough test.

“I think you've really, really got to learn your way around these golf courses, and so I’ve done the same for Lytham, spending two days over there to take the pressure off me a little bit on the Tuesday and Wednesday, before The Open.

“Olympic kind of started to reinforce to me that I am playing well. It was a confidence boost for sure.

“At the minute I'm struggling on slow greens a little bit but one of my best putting weeks came at Olympic where they were super-fast. It used to be that I was a bad fast green putter and a good slow green putter, and I'm kind of nearly the opposite now. When I get on slow greens I struggle a little bit and putt better on fast surfaces. 

“I added a little bet of weight to my putter in Portrush, so I might look at doing that again for Lytham.”

McDowell, who is coached by Pete Cowen who helped Clarke to the Claret Jug last year at Royal St George’s, feels ready to win another Major having moved on from the life-changing experience of capturing the US Open followed by securing the winning point for Europe at The 2010 Ryder Cup.

“Last year I went through a period between March and the end of August when the head was coming off a little bit,” he said. “We all go through peaks and troughs, but it was just a wake-up call really.

“I needed to get my mind-set back in the right place and go back to doing the things I was pre-US Open in 2010. I learned a lot from last year and I have put those things into play and I have managed myself better this year. I feel like I’m now ready to deal with the expectations again if I was to win another one of these things.

“Unfortunately I’ve got the Irishness in me where celebrating comes very easily to me. I was talking to Ernie Els a couple of years ago, and Ernie knows how to celebrate as well, and he said to me you have got to enjoy every victory, because you don’t know when it is your last.

“‘The downtimes in this game are difficult so enjoy your good time’, he said. I think that is a good bit of advice. Celebrate in moderation. You need to give yourself a pat on the back every now and again.”

Royal Portrush Suffers R&A Setback

Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson has played down the prospects of the Open Championship making a quick return to Royal Portrush.

The successful staging of the recent Irish Open at Portrush raised hopes that the Open could return to the venue for the first time since 1951.

But the R&A chief said such a move was not "imminent".

"There would be much work to do for an Open ever to go to Portrush [again]," added Dawson.

"We have been there before. It's always, to an extent, been on our radar and our championship committee, I'm sure, will continue to evaluate it.

"But don't expect anything imminent - that's for sure."

Speaking at a news conference a day ahead of the start of this year's event at Royal Lytham, Dawson described Portrush as a "great personal favourite".

However, this initial comment was followed by a series of less favourable comments about the Northern Ireland course's Open Championship feasibility.

"If you were at the Irish Open and compare it to what we're doing here, we're talking 20,000 grandstand seats here. I doubt if there were 2,000 at the Irish Open.

"You're talking about a tented village here that I would estimate is 10 or more times the size than it was at the Irish Open.

"The crowd size at the Irish Open, while it was very, very good, was only as good as perhaps the lowest we would expect at an Open venue, ie Turnberry.

"Where would you put the big grandstand complex? The practice ground at Portrush would [also] need a lot of work, in my estimation.

"[And] We don't have a finishing hole that would have the grandstands around it."

Dawson added that a "great deal of money would need to be spent, in my estimation, to make Royal Portrush a sensible choice".

"It's not a criticism of Royal Portrush. It's a wonderful golf course. But the commercial aspects of it are quite onerous."