Harrington Turns Mind Off, Game On

CHASKA, Minn. -- Padraig Harrington is not thinking. I say that as the ultimate compliment. It might be the hardest thing for a golfer to accomplish. Or for any athlete.

But with golfers, it's like a disease. Harrington was thinking way too much, picking away at his golf swing like a scab.

He left it bleeding and infected.

Maybe I'll find a better analogy, one that's not so gross.

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Anyway, he was the best golfer in the world* last year. The asterisk is because Tiger Woods was out for knee surgery. Then, Harrington ruined himself by tinkering.

Now, he has managed something that's so hard. He has stopped thinking about something, about all the little corrections he was making. He's letting the swing flow.

And he's in second place, behind Woods, going into the final round of the PGA Championship Sunday. That's right, Woods was already crowned (I confess), but they might have to scratch his name off the trophy.

Anyone have a bottle of white-out?

We have finally found what we've been looking for all these years. And that's someone who has big enough, well, let's say nerve, to want to stand up to Woods.

Harrington. While most of the rest of the players had also crowned Tiger already, and are now just here at Hazeltine on a two-day paid vacation, Harrington has kept coming.

"I think the biggest issue for me is I've got to get this putter straightened out,'' he said. "I've got to get confident on the greens.''

Oops, wait a minute. Harrington didn't say that. Phil Mickelson did after falling down to about a million over par for the tournament.

We have tried so hard to give the title of rival to Mickelson. He's a perfect fit, after all. He and Tiger don't like each other. He's a lefty and Tiger's a righty. They are opposites, basically. But Mickelson, a Hall of Famer, just
doesn't have the stomach for the fight with Woods.

That's not to say Harrington will win Sunday. But everyone at the place thought that Woods had this thing won, and would turn it into a blowout Saturday.

Golfers have complained for years about the mayhem surrounding them when they play in the same group with Woods. Well, Harrington played with Woods the first two rounds, and then barely missed staying in the leader's group for Saturday.

"Hopefully,'' he said at the time, "I'll see him again on Sunday.''

He probably will be in the final group Sunday. For now, Woods is scheduled to play only with Y.E. Yang, who is tied with Harrington at 6-under. Woods is 8-under. Big rains are expected for Sunday morning, though, and if there's a delay, plans are for everyone to go in threes, meaning Woods, Yang and Harrington.

Would Harrington rather play with Woods?

"I think I would,'' he said. "It would suit me better to have that sort of match-play style. I think I will get into it and hopefully raise my game.''

See? He thinks playing with Woods will improve him. That's what we've been looking for.

You might have seen what happened last week. Harrington went against Woods in the final round at the Firestone. They fought each other brilliantly. And then in the end, Harrington fell apart.

An official warned him that he was playing too slow, put him in the clock. Harrington unraveled.

It was pathetic. So how can I say six days later that Harrington is the one guy with the guts to stand toe-to-toe with Woods? Just a hunch, really. That, and while walking along with him for hours Saturday, taking a look at his face. That nice, sort-of dense look he has off the course? Up close, on the course, you can see the fire.


Also, he sank those testing six-to-eight foot putts all day. Of course, Saturday nerve in golf is different than Sunday nerve.

When he folded last week, I thought it was another sign that he was still too much.

Wrong. He's past that. He simply had not been in the fight for a while, with all that comes with being there with Woods.

And look how fast he recovered, and wanted another shot

"Everybody wants to see a battle,'' he said. "Everybody hopes the underdog catches up. But when he catches up, ultimately, they want to the hero to win, as usual.

"That's the way all the storybooks are written.''

Uh, no they are not. Storybooks favor underdogs.

"There are a lot of people who are cheering me on, wanting me to push him along. But they still want Tiger to win.''

You should have seen the crowds Saturday. With each hole, they got a little louder for Harrington. And I think he's right that they want Woods to win. But this was appreciation for a guy willing and wanting to get back in the ring with him.

The problem is that Woods likes Harrington. What kind of rivalry is that?

With Tiger and Mickelson the more you like one of them, the more you dislike the other one.

Earlier in the tournament. Harrington hit an amazing shot, and Woods told him at the time that he would have paid to see that shot.

Harrington asked him for 50 bucks.

And Woods defended Harrington after the Firestone, risking fine by publicly ripping the official for butting in and distracting him.

So we can still have some questions about Harrington's nerves on Sunday against Woods. But maybe we should be wondering about Woods' nerves, too. He did choke at the Masters, and fold at the British this year.

I'm still going with Woods. But any more talk about Harrington will come without an asterisk.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com