'It's all about winning' — Hot start helps Harrington in victory hunt stateside
EYES ON PRIZE: Padraig Harrington during day three of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course St. Andrews. Pic: Robert Perry/PA Wire.
Padraig Harrington says his eyes are very much fixed on victory after he fired himself into contention for a third PGA Champions title of the season in North Carolina.
The 53-year-old Harrington has racked up back-to-back impressive performances among what he termed "the young guys" on the DP World Tour but returned to the veteran circuit stateside this week and opened his SAS Championship challenge with a sparkling 66 to sit just one shot off the lead in the chase for a $2.1m purse.
The three-time Major winner savoured his bogey-free Friday round, which featured five birdies on the back nine, and insisted that winning is what matters most. Harrington finished T25 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews last week and T12 at the BMW in Wentworth in late September but wasn't firmly in final-round contention. That's what he craves.
"It's all about winning, you know," Harrington said. "It doesn't matter where you are, you want to be in contention on Sunday, giving yourself a chance to win. It doesn't always work out but you want to be there hitting the shots when it matters.
"That's what I'm saying: if I go back to the young guys and I'm not doing that, then I don't want to be there. You know, finishing 25th last week, people came up to me saying well done, 12th the week before, well done. But I only want to be in contention.
"I'm not saying that's easy but I'd much prefer to be in contention and winning, or losing, tan finishing 10th. Who's going to remember that?"
