The sheep pen that passes for a post round interview area was almost deserted when Padraig Harrington walked out of the recorders hut after signing his card for a 77.
Something was on his mind. Something more than the average feeling of disappointment.
The details of his third round really centred on just two consecutive holes. After taking four putts on the sixth green he failed to regain his composure and followed up with another double bogey on the seventh. The chance of victory was gone there and then and his facial expression could not hide how he felt about it.
Victory at the Open at Carnoustie last July has left Harrington with a voracious appetite for the winning feeling. And yet, apart from a relatively small invitation tournament in Morocco last October, he hasn’t won.
In a way he has been living with a feeling of disappointment every time he has walked away from a tournament this year. He has played some excellent golf and been a consistent high finisher on the USPGA Tour with four top five finishes in eight events, but winning has eluded him and he may just have realised that the pursuit of perfection might be costly rather than rewarding.
In a moment of frankness within minutes of walking off the 18h green on Saturday he began to speak slowly but deliberately. The eleven holes since the seventh had been a grind and obviously not a lot of fun. He looked very fatigued.
‘There’s an element of trying too hard,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to be a little bit more accepting and just go with it rather than always feeling that anything that goes against me on the course is knocking me back.’
‘I don’t have to be perfect. I can manage to get around without that. I’m definitely trying too hard,’ he said.
Meanwhile as the back nine unfolded for the leaders, Lee Westwood was looking as though he was playing in a leisurely Sunday fourball. The former European number one with a wonderful Ryder Cup record doesn’t ever look like he’s trying too hard and if he’s to win, his naturally calm demeanour will be tested to its limit.
That’s because he will be paired with Tiger Woods who, for the second day in a row performed a host of magic tricks on the back nine to take the lead. With two eagles in the last six holes and an extremely fortuitous chip in birdie on the 17th, Woods is the outright leader by a stroke.
So if history is anything to go by he’s going to win. He has never lost a major from such a leading position after 54 holes.
But maybe he is due a day when the golfing gods don’t look favourably on him. Perhaps he has used up all his luck with those monster putts on the 13th and 18th greens or that crazy chip in off the flagstick on the 17th. One way or the other, it’s been the Tiger show so far and it’s probably not a wise use of funds to bet against him.
