Harrington makes brave start at Open

Padraig Harrington, who almost pulled out of the Open following a wrist injury, made a brave start to his title defence with a respectable four-over par 74 in treacherous conditions at Royal Birkdale.

The Irishman, who said on Wednesday there was only a 50 per cent chance of him finishing the tournament, was so happy with his round that he increased the probability of staying on till Sunday to 95 per cent.

A steady rain and gusting winds of up to 45 kmph made it a battle of survival out on the course, and despite not being the fittest, Harrington was delighted to be just three shots off the clubhouse leader, South African Retief Goosen.

Harrington, who finished with back-to-back bogeys, said: “I would surely have taken this score on the first tee, especially since I did not have to play and test the wrists under these conditions. But obviously, the bogey-bogey finish tainted it a little bit.

“If the weather holds up the way it was all morning, 74 will be a respectable enough score with 54 holes to go in this tournament.”

Harrington said he did not mind having another go at the course in similar conditions.

“I really enjoyed the battle today. I’d really like to have another go at it. If I have to tee up tomorrow in the same conditions, I’d look forward to the test, but may be, not for another three days,” said Harrington.

“Look at it this way, at least 40 per cent of the field is not prepared to play in weather like that. So, it does give an advantage to any of the guys from Great Britain and Ireland and anybody who is used to links golf.”

One person who was completely at home amidst the puddles and the drizzle was the Goose.

“I was very pleased. It was tough. I have played in similar weather conditions on other golf courses, but not as tough as this one. The ball was going absolutely nowhere into the wind,” said Goosen.

“I did not even warm up properly. I just went to the range, found it too cold, and went inside the Taylor Made van and just hung around there. I thought I was warming up more staying inside the van than by hitting balls on the range.

“I suppose, on any other golf course, this would have been a 65.”