Padraig Harrington moves into the lead at the Irish Open

Golfer Padraig Harrington has moved into the lead at the Irish Open in Lahinch, county Clare, after scoring seven birdies through his first 13 holes.

Harrington moved ahead of five players tied in second at -5 under par with the 2007 winner looking to become the first Irish man since Shane Lowry in 2009 to win the tournament. Harrington caught fire after the seventh hole as he birdied the eighth, ninth, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth while bogeying the eleventh. https://twitter.com/RTEgolf/status/1146761778883252225 https://twitter.com/RTEgolf/status/1146780403589500928 https://twitter.com/RTEgolf/status/1146785793463054336 https://twitter.com/RTEgolf/status/1146794545910169601 https://twitter.com/RTEgolf/status/1146807816079859712 Harrington was sidelined until late February with a wrist injury and he said that the issue may persist for months when he confirmed that he would be playing in The Irish Open in March.

"I wouldn't say the wrist is 100%, it might not be 100% for about nine months, or at least another six or seven months. I'm working away at it," he told RTE. "Traditionally the Malaysian Open was my first event of the season, if you go back 20 years, so it's my first event this year and I'm looking forward to that good karma, let's say. "It's interesting to come out here. I hit shots on the range here, I hit shots last week and the wrist is holding up, there's no doubt about it. "There's a certain amount of mobility issues and I need to work on the strength of it. Maybe hit a few less balls in the short term, but in general it's right on track. If anything it's probably ahead of expectations."