NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — As Friday’s second round at the PGA Championship neared its conclusion and Aronimink Golf Club bathed in late-evening light, Padraig Harrington found himself in a particularly interesting spot.
The 54-year-old Irishman had rallied after a disappointing first-round four-over 74. Several second-round birdies had taken him from the cut line to the edge of contention. When I found him with a few holes left he was one over par, suddenly just five shots off the lead. Harrington had a front-row seat to that lead, too: it was held by his playing partner Maverick McNealy.
In person, Harrington is a particularly satisfying watch because you see the effort. In his all-out practice swing, in his gritted teeth, in his down-the-fairway stare. He walks with purpose; even as he favors one leg, there’s a bounce in his step.
Harrington engages with the crowd. He’s aware of them and grateful for them. He head-nods some, fist-bumps some, occasionally returns a quip or two. And then he locks in as he approaches his next shot. He’s always been clear on one point: he’s here to try and win.
But Harrington stumbled coming home. He three-putted the par-4 6th, his 15th hole of the day, and settled for bogey. Then he missed a four-footer at No. 9, for a deflating bogey to finish. Now he was three over par, seven back. He still gamely addressed a small group of reporters post-round — myself and a handful of Irish journos — but when he spoke about playing his way into contention, he used the past tense.
The window had closed.
THEN CAME SATURDAY. Every morning tee time at any level comes with a free helping of hope, and Harrington used his from 8:57 a.m. Birdie at 1. Birdie at 6. Birdie at 7. And even par the rest of the way. He finished off a three-footer at 18 to sign for 67 and a return to even par for the tournament. He doffed his hat to the Philadelphia crowd cheering his final hole. They ate it up.
What was happening around Harrington offered relevant context. After two days of bunched scores left a traffic-jam leaderboard, Saturday morning’s green-light conditions allowed a few pros to make massive moves. Joaquin Niemann and Martin Kaymer each shot 66, jumping from T54 to the edge of the top 10. Justin Rose, Chris Kirk and Kristoffer Reitan shot 65; they jumped nearly 50 spots. Rory McIlroy began the day T30; at one point he played his way into a share of the lead.
Which meant that as he wrapped up his Saturday, Harrington was already dreaming of a wild Sunday.
“We’ll have to wait and see what the leaderboard is at the end of the day,” he said, a few minutes later, to the same group of Irish journos. Then he grinned.
“I do feel that it’s a golf course that, assuming they go with some tough pins tomorrow — not as tough as [Friday] but tough pins — it would be hard for the leaders. Someone with momentum who holed a few putts could still shoot four or five under par and the leaders could hit a wall. That’s the type of course it is.”
If the subtext wasn’t clear, Harrington made it so: Sure, several dozen players are within a handful of the lead. But he’s a dreamer. He hopes that “someone” is himself.
“I’m still hopeful that I’m only going to be half a dozen shots behind going into tomorrow and have a big day,” he said. “That’s what I look forward to. I ain’t going out there to play for second, third, fourth, fifth, anything. I won’t remember it. So I’m hoping I go out there and fall into the zone tomorrow and it just keeps flowing.”
I asked him to clarify that point — would he really not remember a top-five? Like his valiant charge at the 2021 PGA Championship, for instance, when he finished T4, four shots behind Phil Mickelson?
“I will say, yes, but only because it got me into the Masters,” he said. (The Masters gives exemptions to anybody to finish fourth or better at a major the previous year.) “But I’m in a nice position where I don’t count up my second, third, fourth, fifths.”
We don’t need to count them, either, but just for bookkeeping: the 2021 PGA was Harrington’s most recent top-20 finish at a major. It also qualified him for the 2022 Masters; that was his most recent trip to Augusta. He won the Open in 2007 and again in 2008. He won the PGA Championship in 2008, too. He returns to both events every year, hoping for another.
Harrington modified that last statement.
“Okay, I count my seconds. I think I have 41 seconds in my career,” he said. “But I don’t count top 10s, anything like that. That puts me in a nice place.”
Again, he reconsidered.
“But y’know what? Of course making the cut’s not a bad thing at my age. And of course I could go out there and play well and look like I’m competitive with these young guys; that’s not a bad thing either. I try and expect more, but I certainly appreciate that I still go out there, I play with these young guys, good young players, and can hold my own.
“I don’t feel like I’m out there getting in the way.”
Saturday was the first time Harrington had played with Kristoffer Reitan, last week’s PGA Tour winner. Reitan subscribes to Harrington’s YouTube channel, he said with some glee — and cited a specific lesson that had helped him.
“The narrow stance one,” he said. “Wide stance you’re more likely to sway, narrow stance you’re more likely to turn.
“Most pros have watched at least a little,” he added. He likes that idea.
By midafternoon Harrington still had his wish: He was T31, just five shots off the lead. Somebody’s going to make a Sunday charge. Why not him?
Forget the idea of getting in the way.
Harrington still hopes he’s the main event.
Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.
