Padraig Harrington makes useful start with 65 in Abu Dhabi | Sport | The Guardian

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• Padraig Harrington

Padraig Harrington makes useful start with 65 and second place in Abu Dhabi

• Irishman's reworked swing reaps dividends
• Graeme McDowell wrongly accused of moving

• Article history



Padraig Harrington blasts out of a bunker on the 8th hole in Abu Dhabi. Photograph: Jumana El Heloueh/REUTERS Welcome back Padraig Harrington, three-time major champion and long-time eccentric, who emerged from the purdah of a winter spent on the practice range to turn in a vintage performance. An opening-round 65, seven-under par, was not quite good enough to lead the field after the first day of the Abu Dhabi Championship, but it was more than enough to suggest the swing changes he embarked on during the winter – there were 15 at the last count – may have a chance of restoring the Irishman's place among the game's elite. As for Harrington's reputation as one of the sport's most obsessional characters, not only does it remain intact, it may have been enhanced. "This could take a while," he said when asked, after his round, to list the changes he had made over the winter to a swing that won him two Opens and a US PGA Championship in the space of 13 months. There followed a lengthy exposition involving swing planes and hip rotations and pre-shot routines, all of which would have baffled an ingénue and, quite possibly, an expert, who would have been entitled to ask why it was necessary to alter a swing that had served him so well. But apparently it makes perfect sense to Harrington, now 39. "You always want to get better. I was world No3 when I had won three majors but I didn't think I could get to world No1. I wanted to improve and try to get there. When it comes to golf, the day I don't have something to work on is the day I won't want to get up in the morning and go out and practise," he said, taking a deep breath before denying the charge of "eccentricity". "I'm complicated," he said. He is all of that. Less complicated, however, is the task that lies ahead of Harrington over the next three days if he wants to win on Sunday afternoon: play brilliantly. He will need to if he wants to beat the hugely promising South African Charl Schwartzel, who led after the first round with an eight-under 64, and hold off Graeme McDowell, who was tied for third after a 66. The US Open champion finished his round with five successive birdies followed by a chat with the rules officials after a TV viewer called to complain McDowell had moved his ball with his club as he readied himself to play an approach to the 18th green. He had not. "It was one of those innocent situations where you just feather it [the ball]. It didn't go anywhere but if it had moved off its spot I would have been penalised," he said afterwards. The tournament referee Andy McFee had a look at the footage and agreed. Chalk one up against the growing army of couch-bound vigilantes who seek their thrills by trying to catch out the world's leading players, as was the case on the US PGA Tour a couple of weeks ago when Camilo Villegas was disqualified from the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii at the behest of a TV viewer who spotted him inadvertently breaking the rules. Villegas became something of a cause célèbre amongst his fellow pros, most notably Ian Poulter, who dismissed the person responsible for the Colombian's disqualification as a "snitch". If McDowell was annoyed about being accused of something he did not do, then it was not immediately apparent. There was no surprise in that. Nothing seems to disturb the Northern Irishman these days, except perhaps a failure to live up to his own high expectations of himself. And even that is becoming a rare experience. "I got a little bit frustrated on the 13th green [where he missed a putt for birdie] but you never know what's around the round in golf," he said. What was round the corner for him was a run of five birdies and a spot on his usual table, the one called the leaderboard. Much has made this week about the presence of Phil Mickelson, who signed for a quiet 71, one-under par, and of the world No1 Lee Westwood, who was two shots better. The pedigree and pulling power of both men is not in doubt but it should not overshadow the fact McDowell, on current form, may be the best player in the world right now. A win for him on Sunday and there will be no argument.