Padraig Harrington was already in the spotlight after winning the Hoag Classic, organized by the Champions Tour. Yet, again, the golfer managed to steal the show after taking an incredible recovery shot in the first round of the Houston Open. Harrington took a shot from his knees to save par at the Memorial Park course.
The former Ryder Cup captain rescued his ball from a situation where any other golfer wouldn’t attempt of making a recovery shot. His shot for the 16th hole took a left turn and landed under a bush. Following that, Harrington bent down on his knees to have a better view and took a shot, which successfully landed on the fairway and made par for that hole. After displaying such a splendid performance, he talked about his approach during the difficult situation.
Padraig Harrington Breaks Down His Remarkable Recovery Shot
The golfer explained on social media how to tackle these tricky situations under pressure.
“Ended up making par. Use a 5 wood if possible for this as you’re less likely to snag the heel and it takes the shank out of play.”
His round ended at 70, which was six shots behind Taylor Moore and Wilson Fur. Although Harrington’s round was stellar to watch, the player stated that he could do better.
Harrington is one of the celebrated golfers on the PGA Tour, who was on the winning side of the Ryder Cup four times. He also has three majors to his name, which are Open Championship trophies from 2007 and 2008 and a PGA Championship victory in 2008. Harrington was also the captain of the US Ryder Cup team in 2021, when the Americans triumphed over the Europeans. Apart from these, Harrington’s other accolade came in 2022, which was winning the US Senior Open.
He made par btw https://t.co/jzexvhThMo pic.twitter.com/0EDpvYgi1B
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 28, 2024
The current betting favorite of the Houston Open is Scottie Scheffler, who’s one shot behind the first-place holder with 5-under. Scheffler is in great form having back-toback wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. Thus, a third victory is quite expected from the player.
After his Thursday round, he said,
“I had a solid round. Kept the card clean. Bogey free is always nice, especially around a golf course like this. It’s nice to be able to keep the card clean, like I said.”
Thus, it is to see who the ultimate winner of Memorial Park on Sunday turns out to be after a fierce match takes place over the weekend.
