Irishman Padraig Harrington is recognized as one of the wisest voices in professional golf. He is admired not only for his extraordinary experience, but also for the time he dedicates to sharing his knowledge with anyone who needs advice.
The recently concluded Senior PGA Championship is another example of this. Despite a very disappointing finish, the three-time major champion took the time to offer valuable insights, particularly to help amateur golfers.
Harrington’s analysis focused on the overemphasis of statistics during the round, which he believes should be eliminated altogether.
“One of the worst things you can do on the golf course is judge and analyse,” he said. “After, let’s say, 26 holes, I knew I’d missed two greens this week and hit a couple of par fives. That’s horrible information to have in your head.”
“You shouldn’t be aware of how many fairways or how many greens…because we don’t play fairways and greens. We play score…”
“Every day should be just the score. You should never be analyzing your round as you’re playing it and there’s no doubt the fact that I knew I’d hit lots of fairways and greens meant I was analyzing my round. In a perfect world you wouldn’t even know what score you’re shooting, you’d just be playing.”
“One of the worst things you can do on the golf course…”Padraig Harrington shared some great advice for amateur golfers about why it can be counter-productive to equate hitting fairways and greens to success. pic.twitter.com/6KwRpqC3it
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 26, 2025
In an era when tools like Trackman allow players to evaluate the impact of literally every move on their golf results, this is certainly an interesting opinion.
Padraig Harrington tied for second place with Thomas Bjorn at the Senior PGA Championship, finishing just one stroke behind the winner, Angel Cabrera. The Irishman was on the verge of a great comeback but faded down the stretch.
Harrington began the final round two strokes behind the leaders, but his position improved significantly as the round progressed. Through the 14th hole, he had made seven birdies and no bogeys; his event score was 10-under, and he led the tournament by two strokes.
However, he then carded a double bogey on the 15th and a bogey on the 18th to fall down dramatically. This allowed Cabrera to surge forward, completing the back nine with two birdies and a bogey.
This marks Harrington’s ninth top-10 finish in senior major championships, including his victory at the 2022 U.S. Senior Open.
It’s also his fifth runner-up finish in such events. Two years ago, he finished runner-up at the Senior PGA Championship, losing a playoff to Steve Stricker.
But as great as he is on the course, he is just as great off of it, always willing to impart his wisdom.
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