Harrington overshadowed by Tiger

June 11, 2009 11:56 pm

— It’s not fair to Padraig Harrington that Tiger Woods didn’t play in the PGA Championships last August. He doesn’t need to apologize for beating golf’s best field minus golf’s best player, just like tennis star Roger Federer’s first victory at the French Open isn’t diminished because he didn’t beat Rafael Nadal.
But far fewer golf fans are waiting for Harrington to show up at Hazeltine National Golf Club sometime around Aug. 10 than Woods.
Harrington spoke by telephone to a roomful of media and other golf officials earlier this week at Hazeltine, the site of the 91st PGA Championships in two months. Harrington is the defending champion but not the main attraction of the tournament. That would be Woods.
In 2002, Rich Beem was the PGA winner, but Hazeltine’s trophy cases devote nearly as much space to Woods’ final charge, making birdie on the last four holes, than Beem’s victory and that awkward shimmy dance on the 18th green.
Even though we haven’t yet come to the U.S. Open, it’s time to get excited about the upcoming PGA, and according to tournament officials, tickets sales will exceed that of 2002, when more than 25,000 fans per day walked the grounds during that week.
Hazeltine caught a break by not hosting in 2008, when Woods was on the mend from knee surgery. Last season’s final major tournament lacked the buzz that Woods bring to an event.
Hazeltine is set up so that it might be the longest course in PGA history, playing to nearly 7,800 yards and par-72, with four par-5s “the way (a golf course) is meant to be,” Ian Baker-Finch said Tuesday.
There might be a par-5 that measures 650 yards, and the average length of the par-5s could be 615 yards. There is a new tee box on No. 12 that could lengthen the hole to 545 yards, followed by a par-3, with a big pond on the left, that can play to 250 yards.
The extra distance is necessary to challenge the modern golfer, though it does preclude some of the shorter hitters from challenging for this championship. There’s still two months for the fairways, rough and fringes to fill in that will make even-par a pretty good score.
Will Harrington be a factor at this PGA? Probably, though his form is not good right now.
He said his swing is good, and he’s focused on the final three majors. He had a top-20 finish the last time he played Hazeltine so the course, albeit much longer, shouldn’t be a problem.
But Harrington’s PGA victory came with Sergio Garcia stalking, and that’s not the same as having Woods in the field. He’ll need to play a little better and handle a little more pressure if he wants to defend this title.

Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.