No flash in the pan, no one-week wonder. He really is reborn. Pádraig Harrington, who ended a seven year winless drought on the US Tour when he captured the Honda Classic playing on a sponsor's invitation last month, confirmed his renewed confidence with a fine opening round 68, four under par, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Although Morgan Hoffman – playing on the insistence of his family a day after the death of his 97-year-old grandmother – claimed the clubhouse lead with a first round 66, the American only had to look over his shoulder to see a strong chasing pack which included Harrington and, not too far behind, world number one Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy’s putter proved to be cold for much of a frustrating opening round where he hit 17 greens-in-regulation but failed to convert numerous opportunities. In his final tournament before seeking a career Grand Slam at next month’s Masters, McIlroy opened with a 70.
Harrington, who started on the 10th, reeled off eight successive pars before finally managing a birdie on the 18th where he rolled in a ten-footer. He made it back-to-back birdies when he sank a 20 footer on the first and rolled in a 16 footer on the fourth before getting a rub of the green on the par five sixth.
Lucky bounce
On that 555 yards hole, the 43-year-old Dubliner’s approach from 246 yards was short of the green only to get a fortuitous bounce off the rocks and rebound back onto the fairway. Harrington made the most of his good fortune when chipping to five feet and rolling in a fourth birdie of his round.
In fairness, Harrington wasn’t the only player to get a lucky break. Brandt Snedeker, who also signed for a 68, hit the rocks not once but twice with his approach to the 18th only for the ball to somehow find its way to within six feet of the hole.
Hoffman claimed the lead, a shot ahead of a group that featured Ian Poulter, John Peterson, Ken Duke, Kevin Na and Jason Kokrak. For Poulter, who featured an eagle and three birides in a bogey free 67, it was a particularly impressive showing given his young son Joshua had been hospitalised with pneumonia on Wednesday night.
McIlroy actually played the best golf of anyone tee-to-green, but endured a frustrating day with the putter in hand.
The Northern Irishman eventually signed for an opening 70 that could have been so much better: he hit every green-in-regulation up to the 16th, where he put his approach from fairway rough into a water hazard to suffer his only bogey of the round. His response was to hit a nine-iron approach from 162 yards on the 18th to eight feet and he rolled in the birdie putt to at least give him a spring in his step as he left the final green.
McIlroy actually hit 17 greens in regulation but had a cumbersome day with the putter, taking a total of 34 putts on slow greens. “I saw a lot of positive signs out there, and was just trying to stay as patient as possible. Obviously, the greens aren’t quite as good as they could be – it is hard to trust yourself at times, but if it had been a better putting day it could have been something lower. I feel good about my game, there was a lot of good signs out there and it was nice to finish up with a birdie,” he said.
Playing in his final tournament before next month's US Masters at Augusta National, McIlroy added: "It was disappointing to play the par fives in even par for the day. Hopefully I can improve on that over the week. It is important, I want to feel that feeling of being in contention, especially the last start before Augusta.
“ The win in Dubai [on the European Tour in February] feels like a long time ago. It would be nice to get myself in the hunt going into the weekend.”
Slow start
Graeme McDowell, who has had two top-10 finishes in the past three years at Bay Hill, had a slow start to his tournament with a level par 72, while Shane Lowry – playing in the event for the first time – ran up a bogy six on the 16th on the way to a three-over-par 75.
The greens at Bay Hill had drawn a lot of criticism, although Kokrak – who contended last year until losing out to Matt Every – didn’t have much of an issue with them.
“They were rolling pretty good, pretty slow for PGA Tour standards, but over a decent pace and an aggressive golf course you can go out there and hit putts firm and not worry about rolling it eight-ten feet by,” said Kokrak, perhaps providing some words of wisdom to McIlroy who, at four shots behind, remained very much in contention.
