Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.
Padraig Harrington is once again a major champion. Building on the success of his PGA Tour career that included three major titles, the Irishman won his second senior major title over the weekend as he won the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor.
“I suppose that’s another great thing about the Champions tour,” Harrington said. “It gives us this opportunity to relive our past glories.”
In Colorado, vintage Paddy was on full display. As he duked it out against the best 50-and-over golfers in the world, Harrington fired four-straight sub-70 rounds to reach 11 under and best Stewart Cink by a shot.
Harrington and Cink were neck and neck throughout the entire final round, and when they reached the 72nd hole, the fate of the championship still remained in the balance. That’s when Harrington fired a pitching wedge at the flag with perfect execution to all but clinch the title.
“It couldn’t have been close enough,” Harrington said. “I was very happy to have two [putts] to win from six feet.”
Harrington was clinical in his execution of that finishing stretch, but in reality things were far from simple. And as he stood in the 18th fairway, Harrington leaned on some sound advice from a fellow major champ to inform his decision-making.
Harrington’s mental trick
When you’re under pressure on the course, it can be easy to get passive and try to protect a score. This can mean making tentative swings or taking safe lines.
But if you really want to close out strong — like the greats do — you must remain in attack mode. That doesn’t mean playing recklessly, but rather not shying away from the moment.
“Coming down 18, I said to my caddie Ronan [Flood], I said, ‘Look, if I birdie this hole, I win. It takes all the permutations out of it,'” Harrington said. “Ronan then said something to me, reminded me of something that Hale Irwin told me over the years. He said, ‘Always hit the shot you would hit if you’re one shot behind.’ And that kind of gave good clarity to what I was going to do. Obviously if you’re one shot behind, you’d be hitting at that pin, you’ve got to take it on. That made the decision — I think it made the decision, but it gave me clarity to that decision that I was confident that I was doing the right thing.”
With a one-shot lead standing in the middle of the 18th fairway, it would’ve been easy for Harrington to play it safe and hit away from the pin. Instead, he chose to use the mental trick that Irwin taught him.
“It’s a simple thing, and it’s always the perfect shot,” Harrington said. “One shot behind; what shot would you hit if you’re one shot behind? For every occasion it works perfectly.”
Next time you find yourself under pressure in a match, try this strategy. Play like you’re one shot behind and remain aggressive. It will force you to continue to execute and keep you from letting your foot off the pedal and getting chased down.
