Harrington looks ahead to weekend

Padraig Harrington called in coach Bob Torrance to try to find his major-winning game before the 138th Open began.

The way the defending champion played at times in the second round suggested he needs tracker dogs, rescue helicopters and the Ayrshire inshore lifeboat service to join the search if he is going to make it three Claret Jugs in a row.

He is still giving the ball a meaty crack. He still maintains he can win. But the knack of rock-steady scoring which saw Harrington win the last two Opens and the USPGA last year has gone missing.

If it had not been for the 30 or so fans who rushed to his aid on the seventh hole to find a ball which was buried beneath Turnberry's equivalent of a hay stack then he would already be on his way back home to Dublin, having missed the cut.

If on Sunday he completes what would be a minor-miracle of a turnaround he might care to thank the spectator who came up with the result of that errant drive.

Yet, despite a round of 74 which left him three over par for the tournament, you had to applaud Harrington's fighting qualities and the champion's frame of mind which allows him to believe that anything is still possible.

Harrington said: 'The only thing good about playing the weekend is that I can win the tournament. The more rounds of golf I play the better. If I trust in it (his swing) a bit more I'll be right in there.

'The last thing I was doing here this week was trying to make the cut. Thankfully, as my career goes on nobody will be counting how many cuts I miss. Top of my CV will be three majors at the moment and hopefully more.

'I'm hoping to get out nice and early tomorrow morning in beautiful sunshine, shoot a good score, then hope the weather comes in. We can always dream.'

And, in truth, the way he is playing after changing three parts of his swing with Torrance earlier this week it would be dreaming. His short game, it has to be said, is brilliant.

He made more saves on the front nine than Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given.

But scrambling out of bunkers and being required to two putt from 50 feet as he did at the 231-yard par-three sixth is a tough ask for four days on a course which shows its teeth the moment the wind begins to blow.

It was no coincidence that Harrington's round took a turn for the worse when he bogeyed the eighth, ninth and 10th holes on the most exposed corner. Not that he had any complaints.

'The golf course gave it up a bit yesterday and today it was taking it back and that's the right way to be,' said Harrington.

'It's intimidating on a tough day and it's not even that windy out there. It was certainly a test.

'I hit the ball very nicely. It was coming out of the middle of the bat all day. But the longest putt I holed was two feet. I'm putting well so sooner or later they will drop.'

One thing which was in tip-top order was his five wood which he struck down the throat of the par-five 17th pin from 268 yards to set up the birdie which assured him gainful employment at the weekend - a shot which resembled the mighty blow which secured last year's title at Royal Birkdale.

There was still the matter of a knee-knocking two-footer at the last for par, which he made something of a meal of, but eventually converted.

'I certainly wasn't thinking about the cut,' said Harrington.

'I was thinking about being eight shots behind at the weekend and that is certainly not insurmountable on a links golf course.

'I know I'm running out of holes but if the putts start dropping I'll shoot some low scores. I've got to keep being confident and aggressive. It could turn at any time.'

One thing is certain. Harrington will not stop searching.