Harrington ‘mad’ for more Major glory at Jack’s place
Pádraig Harrington admits that he does stuff that is "kind of mad", but that won't bother him as he tries to make history in the US Senior Open in Ohio.
The Dubliner (54) plays the fourth event of his gruelling eight-in-a-row schedule, looking to win the title for the third time in five years and join the late Miller Barber as only the second three-time winner.
Victory would mean breaking out of a seven-way tie with fellow two-time winners Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Kenny Perry and Bernhard Langer.
If he successfully defends at the Donald Ross-designed course where Nicklaus learned the game, Harrington will have overcome a couple of debutants in Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.
"The only real history I know is I know Jack obviously started playing golf here, and you can see how his game developed on this golf course," Harrington said.
"And you can see how his own course design philosophy seemed to have developed from here."
Harrington continues to try to get better, and when reminded that he once said, "you chase improvement and not perfection," he held up his hands.
"I think I should write that down," joked Harrington, who is joined in Ohio by Darren Clarke and Ballymena's Chris Devlin. "Look, obviously, I can't say that I live up to that aspiration, unfortunately.
"If I hit the very best shot on the range -- so if you gave me a 5-iron and I hit the purest 5-iron you could hit, I'd try and hit the next shot better. That is the stupidity of me.
"In a game that's all about consistency, I wouldn't try and hit the next shot the same; I'd try and hit it better, which is kind of mad."
LIV Golf stalwart Poulter (50) has spent much of the week catching up with old friends, and he's happy to be one of the youngest in the field as he's often thrashed by his son Luke, the world amateur number eight who is on track to play in September's Walker Cup at Lahinch.
"He gave me a real good hiding," Poulter said of a recent game they had at Augusta National.
"I've only played with him about 10 times in the past 12 months because his schedule and my schedule are different.
"I try to play with him, and also try not to play with him if that makes sense. Because he hits it 40 yards past me, so it's a bit demoralising."
As for his future, Poulter did not sound stressed, even with LIV's future in doubt.
He can sit out a year's suspension and try to play the PGA Tour Champions and also play in Europe, having paid all his fines,
"So look, I'm confident in what [CEO] Scott O'Neil and LIV are trying to do," Poulter told Golf Digest. "We can chat for days on 'what ifs,' right? If they do and if they don't, and if who, you know, it's one of these, like, moving goalposts.
"We just don't know. So, speculating on what I would do, I mean, I don't know. The amazing thing I think for me is like, I'm 50, I have an option."
Improving his options is the goal for Séamus Power, who plays the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Illinois, where former world amateur number one Jackson Koivun makes his professional debut.
The event no longer offers the winner an Open Championship exemption, but it's an opportunity for 113th-ranked Power to move up the FedEx Cup standings and give himself the best chance to make the top 90 at the end of next season, who will play the new PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028.
On the DP World Tour, eight of the top 10 in the Race to Dubai play the BMW International in Munich with Patrick Reed looking to defend top spot from Eugenio Chacarraa as second-ranked Rory McIlroy sported his Masters green jacket at Wimbledon.
On the Ladies European Tour, Aine Donegan, Anna Foster, Olivia Mehaffey and Sara Byrne tee it up in the €350,000 Hulencourt Women's Open in Belgium.
Byrne has made a remarkable recovery from the broken elbow she sustained in January and is 40th in the Order of Merit behind 25th-ranked Leona Maguire, who returns alongside fellow LPGA player Lauren Walsh (129th) at next week's Amundi Evian Championship.
The HotelPlanner Tour is in France for the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in Normandy - the 13th of 29 events on the schedule.
There are six Irishmen in the field looking to climb the Road to Mallorca rankings and earn strong status on the DP World Tour awarded to the top 15 at the end of the season.
They are headed by 23rd-ranked Liam Nolan, who is joined in France by Max Kennedy (41st), Mark Power (86th), Conor Purcell (132nd), Ronan Mullarney (158th) and James Sugrue (192nd).
Nolan looks in good form after picking up his third top-10 of the season last week, finishing joint fourth behind England's John Gough, whose parents hail from Meath and Down, in the Blot Play9 in Brittany.
