The Loop

This can't bode well for Harrington

April 08, 2009

Golf World's E. Michael Johnson reports in this week's edition on Padraig Harrington's driver dilemma: "The week before a major is always an interesting time to make a driver change. One week before you go for your third major in a row is even more unusual—but that's what Padraig Harrington did at the Shell Houston Open when he switched to a 10.5-degree TaylorMade R9 with a Grafalloy ProLite shaft. When asked if he had found a driver that was functional, Harrington simply replied, 'Today, yeah.'"

Now comes word from the Irish Times that Harrington, who hit seven tee shots into the water at the Shell Houston Open last week, at one point in the last day or two had five different drivers on the range at Augusta National, "tinkering...in attempting to work out which one to use come tomorrow's first round of the Masters."

His choice? "The Dubliner has decided to revert to an old one for his continued quest for major glory, going back to a 9.5 degree lofted driver with a slightly longer shaft he used in the 2007 Masters when he finished tied-seventh," the Irish Times reports.

-- John Strege