• PGA Tour

From what I've seen, Woods will win again - Harrington

ESPN staff
August 24, 2011
Padraig Harrington believes Tiger Woods showed signs of life at the US PGA Championship © PA Photos
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Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington would not bet against Tiger Woods winning many more majors, after what he saw from the 35-year-old at the recent US PGA Championship.

The Irishman was paired with Woods, who has 14 such titles to his name, for the first two rounds of the final major championship of 2011 at Atlanta Athletic Club - an event eventually won by American PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley.

Woods missed the cut, following up an opening round of 77 with an equally-underwhelming 73 to comfortably miss out on the weekend at ten-over. Nevertheless Harrington, who got a better view than anyone of the American's remodelled swing over those two days, believes the pieces are all in place for a return to the game's pinnacle.

"I still believe when he turns up and plays well in a given week, I think he's well capable of winning any major he plays in," Harrington said. "He still has a good ball flight. He still hits it well. Once he puts it together in a given week, he can win and will going forward.

"It wasn't his week that week. But when it is his week, he will win again."

Harrington doesn't believe Woods' score at the US PGA was representative of how he played. That is what he believes is the main difference for the former world No. 1 since his return to the game - whereas before he would squeeze the best possible score out of almost every one of his rounds, now he no longer has that ability.

"This is what I would have seen at the PGA," Harrington said. "Certainly he played better, much better than his score. Whereas when he was on top of his game, he always scored really well. It was very rare that you would ever see Tiger Woods walking off a golf course where he had not got the most out of his round, where he certainly didn't at the PGA. He got the minimum out of his rounds."

Woods has been working closely with coach Sean Foley to re-invent his swing in recent months, and has admitted that the changes have been positive but difficult to adjust to. Harrington believes he just needs to get more comfortable with his new style of play, and then the results will come.

"When you're kind of happy with your game, you tend to get the most out of it," he said. "You feel like you shot 70 and you end up shooting 68. And when you're not happy with your game, you feel like you shot 70 and you end up shooting 72. I experience that myself a lot. That's kind of what I see in Tiger's game."

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