Padraig Harrington is delighted to be 'in the heel of the hunt' at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut as he looks to sharpen his game ahead of The Open next month.
Harrington lies just three shots off the lead at TPC River Highlands after a one-under round of 69 left him on five under, in a tie for eighth behind leader Jordan Spieth.
It's a fine return to action for the Stackstown man, who is playing his first tournament since injuring his elbow during a coaching session.
With Harrington looking forward to a trio of links tournaments with the Irish and Scottish Opens preceding the next major at Royal Birkdale, the site of his second Open triumph, it's a well-timed return to the upper reaches of the leaderboard.
"I'm on the fringe of contention," Harrington said.
"Three back is not much on this golf course, and I do need this sort of experience. As I said, everything for me is geared towards the Irish Open, Scottish Open and The Open, so I need to be somewhat in the heel of the hunt and feeling it, thinking about it.
"I know I've four weeks to go and I've got to get my head right, nothing to do with my swing or anything like that. I am where I need to be."
With Harrington happy with his game, the three-times major winner knows success in the coming weeks will depend on his mental approach.
"I liked what I saw today mentally, at times, not all the time," he added. "Worked on some stuff and I'm trying to get my head in the right place coming up to The Open and I saw some good things out there today.
"It was tough. It was a strong, gusting wind. You never stood over any iron shot truly confident that the wind wasn't going to sit down or whatever. And the pins are tight, you can't be that aggressive at times.
"You knew you were going to have a lot of 15-footers, 20-footers off good shots and you needed to hole one or two of those to make a score."
