Padraig Harrington is embracing the pressure that comes as defending champion as he prepares to tee it up at the Portugal Masters in sun-kissed Vilamoura.
The three-time Major winner captured his first European Tour title in eight years – his 15th overall – at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course last season, as he held off the challenge of Anders Hansen, Mikko Korhonen and Andy Sullivan on a thrilling final day.
His closing 65 last year helped him towards a 23 under par total, and with a similar course set-up along with a forecast for perfect weather all week, Harrington feels there could be plenty of low scoring again this year.
Despite an injury-hit season the 46 year old Irishman feels his game is going in the right direction, and he’s in a positive mood as he returns to a part of the world where he clearly enjoys playing golf.
He’ll defend his title against a field that includes former winners Andy Sullivan and Shane Lowry, Ryder Cup star Thomas Pieters, 2016 Masters Tournament champion Danny Willett, and a record line-up of ten Portuguese players.
Home favourite Ricardo Gouveia is looking forward to teeing it up in the sunshine after a few weeks of less favourable weather on Tour, but he is not convinced that his local knowledge will give him too much of an advantage as he aims to find form on the greens this week.
Player quotes
Padraig Harrington:
“It’s always nice to be back in Portugal. The weather is beautiful, I enjoy playing here and it’s an added bonus being defending champion. It doesn’t happen as often as you would like it to happen. It puts a bit more pressure on you, a bit more stress during the week, but I enjoy it down here so I’ll have a good week regardless.
“My expectation is the same every time I play – you’re trying to play as well as you can to get yourself into contention on Sunday. I know if I can get myself into that position I have the ability to win coming down the stretch on a Sunday.
“I’ve been injured most of the season but I’m very happy with a lot of aspects of my game. I need to put it all together on the golf course to have a win, but there are a lot of positive signs.
“The shots to win last year were quite memorable. It was obviously a very tight, exciting event. When I came down the last I hit a conservative tee shot away from the water and the rough. I hit a smart shot with my second shot because I knew my short game was good.
“That’s a huge part of my game, you know, I live by my short game. It was strong all day, so I was very comfortable to hit up the right hand side and go for that chip and putt to win, and it did work out very nicely for me.
“It’s pretty much set up as it was last year. There’s not a huge amount of rough and if the weather stays nice you’ll see very good scoring.”
Ricardo Gouveia:
“The last couple of weeks the weather has been a bit tough on us, especially last week in Holland, but it’s definitely good to be back on home soil and see a bit of sunshine.
“I like this course a lot. I’ve known it since I was a little kid, so it’s just good to be here playing with home support. It’s probably not a big advantage to me because I’m not one of the longest hitters on tour, but I know the course really well, so I know the spots and where to hit it.
“If you get it going off the tee you are going to create a lot of chances, and if the putter is somewhat hot, you’re going to shoot low. That’s normally the case here with the rough being a bit low around the fairways, so I think it’s going to be a low scoring week again.
“It hasn’t been the best this year, a bit of up and down. My long game is a bit better now, but I think if I get the putter going again I can score pretty well.”
