PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Obviously I like coming back here.
The golf course is great. The facilities are great. The facilities are probably too good. We tend to practice a little bit too much this week. I have finished 2nd twice, on a different golf course, really, when you look at the conditions, and the type of greens that were there. Strangely enough I would have said that the golf course that is here now suits more my style of play, but so far I haven’t performed as well as I did on the wetter, lusher golf course that was here maybe four years ago. And golf is a strange game that way. You would think — the golf course itself, I like it, I like the test. I like the challenge. I look forward to coming back here every year. Q. If you could describe this course in one word, what would it be and why PADRAIG HARRINGTON: The “why” means that there’s more than one word at the end. “Exciting.” I think it’s an exciting golf course. What I mean by that is it’s not a big brute of a course with long, boring par-4s. There’s quite a lot of short, tricky par-4s out there. And there’s a lot of intimidating shots, a lot of water. So it’s a golf course that’s exciting at all times. Plenty of birdies can be made. The likes of 16, you can make an eagle, you can make a double bogey on it. So it’s that sort of golf course. Q. It almost seems at times that this is one of those weeks where the course is the star, has equal billing to any player here. Is that true, do you think, and are there other places like that PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I think the golf course, it is a big part of this event. I think it is. I think it’s because of the way things can happen down the stretch here. I think the golf course is an equal billing, yes. I think even without the players this week it would be an exciting event. The winner here will have to go through a lot of emotions coming down the stretch until he — probably until he hits his tee shot on 18, actually even the second shot, as we’ve seen, you’re not going to be comfortable on this golf course. Especially if there’s a couple of shots in it, somebody can make birdies to catch you. 17 is a perfect example. It’s not good enough to make 3, because the opposition could make birdie on the hole. It’s not a hard birdie, it’s a difficult par. And that probably sums up the golf course. 17 is perfect. It’s not a difficult birdie, but it’s a very difficult par.
So it’s a strange game out on this course that there’s a lot of holes that if you play them well you really get rewarded and if you play them badly you get punished. Whereas another golf course you either make a par or bogey on the hole, this course it’s bogey or double bogey at times.