Harrington has mindset to defend US PGA title
DEFENDING champion Padraig Harrington admits he may still be six months away from perfecting his swing, but the Irishman is confident of retaining the US PGA Championship this weekend.
Harrington posted his best result of the year on Sunday, when he finished in a tie for second behind Tiger Woods at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
But the three-time major winner, who will play his first round alongside world No1 Woods today, insists his timely improvement does not represent the blossoming of his revised technique.
“I think what you saw last week was more of a mind-set change,” he said. “About six weeks ago, I figured out what I was looking for to fix the problem I had.
“I haven’t quite corrected it, but it’s obviously put my mind at rest. It will be another six months. But I’m quite capable of performing well enough without that move to win this week.”
Harrington profited last year from the absence of Woods, who was recovering from a career-threatening knee injury, to win the US PGA at Oakland Hills. But fit-again Woods showed he is back in imperious form last weekend, when he pipped Harrington to the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.