Harrington: 'You could say I try too hard'

HAVEN, Wis. -- Former PGA champion Padraig Harrington submitted arguably one of the more surprising scores in the opening round of the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Thursday afternoon, posting a 3-over-par 75.

No one was more surprised than the Irishman, however, who was coming off consecutive top-10 finishes, including a second place at the Irish Open, after missing the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews.

"You could say I try too hard and that is a possibility, no doubt about it," said Harrington, who will have to work hard to avoid missing his third cut of the year in the four majors, having also been dismissed early from the Masters. "I was in great stead going out there coming off the last two weeks. I was hitting the ball well and looking forward to it. I probably wasn't that patient. The first two holes were very simple birdie chances and I played them one over. It was a disappointing start and then maybe holes like 17 I would have played more conservatively if I was a couple under par."

Harrington, who played with John Daly and Davis Love III, suffered a double bogey at the par-3 17th to go along with four bogeys against three birdies. The 2008 PGA champion, who is desperately trying to play his way onto the European Ryder Cup team, had a miserable time Thursday, hitting just seven fairways and seven greens in regulation. He was saved by 26 putts.

"I was very confident going out," said Harrington, who now must wait until around 4:30 CDT Friday for his second round. "I kept playing aggressive shots tentatively whereas playing conservative shots aggressively would have been better. I was feeling good and overplayed a few shots. It's disappointing as I was very happy going out there."

-- Dave Shedloski