“Every day should be about the score.”
Wise words from a major champion. The thing is it took a few hiccups – and some advice from his caddie – in the middle of Friday’s second round of the 85th Senior PGA Championship for Padraig Harrington to remind himself of his own advice.
“Ronan (Flood, his caddie) said to me, ‘look, we’ve only played 28 holes. There’s still a long way to go in this tournament.’”
That chat came on the way to the second hole, his 11th, and was on the heels of bogeys at the par-4 18th and par-4 first. Something clearly clicked because Harrington played the next eight holes with three birdies and five pars to shoot 69 and get through 36 holes in 4-under 140, two off the lead shared by Vijay Singh and Cameron Percy, both of whom had played in the morning, and Y.E. Yang, who finished with three straight birdies for a 68.
A great approach from Pádraig Harrington ⛳️#SrPGAChamp pic.twitter.com/TvbzTb6XLO
— Senior PGA Champ (@seniorpgachamp) May 23, 2025
Why did Harrington need the pep talk?
“One of the worst things you can do on the golf course is to be an analyst,” said Harrington. He said he knew that through 26 holes that he had hit all but two greens and had reached two par-5s in two. “That was 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.”
That’s right, “we play score.”
Any score around par on this day was brilliant work as Congressional Country Club was buffeted by blustery wind and colder-than-expected temperatures. While Harrington would leave the course still two off the lead, trailing just three players and tied with six others at 4-under. He seemed pleased with the position.
“I like being 4-under a lot more than 1-under, that’s for sure,” he said.
