Fearful Harrington grinds out 71 in 500th start as fit again Hurley delights with 65 in Cape Town
Patrick Reed. Picture: Getty Images
Pádraig Harrington combined “fear” and good humour to grind out a one under 71 in his 500th DP World Tour appearance at the Qatar Masters.
The Dubliner (54) was joint 47th, six shots behind the in-form Patrick Reed and Patrick Hillier, who carded 65s to lead by a shot from a five-man chasing pack at Doha Golf Club. Scores
Back-to-back birdie fours at the ninth and 10th moved Harrington to two-under par, and while he had his frustrations, dropping a shot at the 15th, he found that combining his fear of messing up with a relaxed attitude helps him stay sharp.
“I'm full of fear,” Harrington said of the secret of his longevity. “It's not being fearless. It's the opposite of fearless; I play much better with fear. So just have to accept it and get on with it.
“I will say, trying to enjoy it is the only way I can do it. As a younger man, you know, I worked hard, grinded, dug in, hit lots of balls, practised, did all the stuff you should do as a young man.
“But I can't keep that pace up. And now I just love to enjoy my weeks and have a bit more enjoyment around it.
“I do as much work as I can, but not the same as I used to be able to. On the golf course, it can still get frustrating when things don't go right and that.
“But overall, I enjoy the experience more, maybe now than I would have in my younger days.”
Texan Reed (35) left LIV Golf last week and hopes to smooth his path back to the PGA TOUR by winning one of ten dual cards available via the Race to Dubai.
After winning the Dubai Desert Classic and finishing second after a play-off defeat in Bahrain on Sunday, he’s high on confidence.
“We’re definitely enjoying it a lot right now,” Reed said after making nine birdies, including six in a homeward nine of 31. “The game feels solid, I feel like a lot of the work we’ve done in the off-season has really stuck and it’s gone pretty well.
“At this point, we’re just riding the confidence, allowing ourselves to go out there and just play a little bit aggressive, attack the golf course, and worst-case scenario, allow my short game to bail me out.”
Gary Hurley
New Zealander Hiller (27) eagled his final hole to join Reed in a share of the lead and he’s flying high on confidence after recording four top-six finishes in his first five starts this season.
“My game’s feeling really good, so I’m just trying to ride the wave, I guess,” the Kiwi said.
Confidence is also key for West Waterford’s Gary Hurley, who fired a seven-under 65 for a seven-way tie for the lead in the HotelPlanner Tour’s CIRCA Cape Town Open in just his second start since overcoming a career-threatening shoulder injury that kept him out for a year.
He made two eagles and four birdies before dropping a shot at the 1th but could not have been happier after overcoming a career-threatening shoulder injury.
“About three weeks ago, I actually wasn’t going to come out here,” said Hurley (33), who shared the lead with South Africa’s Louis Albertse, England’s Tom Lewis, Will Enefer and Sam Hutsby, Norway’s Baard Skogen and Scotland’s Marc Warren at Royal Cape.
“About a year ago, I woke up one day and couldn’t lift up my arm and didn’t know what it was.
“I went to see a specialist and she said I had Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, which in my case affected a spinal nerve that controls everything with how you move your shoulder.
“It took so long to recover and last September I was starting to look at doing other things outside of golf.
“Then I started working with my coach to find a way to load my shoulder differently in the swing. It doesn’t seem to cause me pain anymore. I’m delighted.”
Conor Purcell shot 68 to share 26th while Max Kennedy was 38th after a 69, Liam Nolan 72nd after a 72 and James Sugrue 132nd after signing for a 74.
