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27th June 2022
01:37pm BST

"There's three things you've got to do. Physically, you've got to putt well. I think, if you drive it well this week you can break the back of the golf course substantially. If you drive it well, keep it out of the rough, hit it long. "Ultimately what leads to those two things is what we just talked about, great attitude. If you're great mentally, you'll probably do the others well anyway."When it was all played out, Harrington had driven and putted superbly. And, every time he wavered or erred slightly, his strong mentality and fighting spirit saw him home. As anyone that has ever followed the Dubliner over the years will tell you, too, he just doesn't win them easy. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1541194750920982530
"I hadn't lost anything. I didn't think I played 10 and 11 badly, and I ended up making two bogeys, which really set me back. Yeah, at that stage I had to start thinking about the leaderboards... I knew things were tight. "I heard a few cheers as I played 14," Harrington added. "Then as I was going to 15, I heard cheers. I couldn't tell who they were for. I'm not sure. "When I birdied [15], I didn't look at the leaderboard, even though there's a big one there. When I birdied it, I hit a nice tee shot down 16. I asked Ronan [Flood, my caddy] well, we heard a big cheer on 18. I said, 'I assume that's Steve'. Ronan says, 'Yeah, he's making birdie at the last to be 9-under'. "I knew I had options the last couple of holes... if I hit a good second shot [on the 18th], a good third shot, or a good fourth shot, I was going to win the tournaments. As Arnold Palmer says, if you're going to hit one good shot, make it the last one!"https://twitter.com/USGA/status/1541184170130411520
"I would think [someone could shoot lower], yeah. But I would have shot lower than 10-under par if the other guys were here. "I wouldn't have been defending. I would have been attacking. I would have shot lower. If there was somebody out in front of me, I think I would have shot lower. "But if you put a field of those young guys out there, the depth is very strong. You fancy your chances playing one-on-one against a player, but when you're playing one against 155 of those young guys, they're pretty good when they're on form."As an Open champion aged 60 or under [he comfortably makes that], Harrington will be teeing it up at St Andrew's for this year's tournament. Heading into the 150th Open Championship, next month, the old dog still has plenty of handy tricks.
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