REVIEW
It was a good week in Dallas. Yes I finished well, tied for 12th, but it’s not just because of the finish. It was good week because I managed to get a few things clear in my head about my swing and I felt that I hit the ball well because of it. I hit a lot of balls over the weekend of Wells Fargo and then also in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday. In the end I was probably lucky that the pro-am was cancelled as it made me take most of the day off – I did come out in the evening and hit a few, but not too many.
The cancelling of the pro-am probably helped me rest, but I definitely felt on Thursday that I wasn’t quite ready to play as I hadn’t got to see where things were at on Wednesday. I started out quite ropey, my lost ball from my drive on my second hole of the day is a case in point. However as the day went on I was getting more and more comfortable with how I was hitting it. That said I was struggling for a long time; I was 2 over for a lot of the day and if it wasn’t for a great last three holes I would have been a long way outside of the cut. I chipped in on the 7th for eagle and then held a 20 footer on the 8th for birdie. Then on my last hole of the day, the 9th, I ripped a drive and was still left with a 4 wood, which I hit to five feet to finish off with another birdie. Four under for my last three holes completely turned my week around – I was delighted with my finish and feeling good.
Friday morning was cold and windy, really not what we were expecting going there. I got off to a good start with a birdie on the 1st but I gave the shot back on the 7th after hitting my second shot into the hazard left. I was hitting the ball nicely but wasn’t able to make anything happen. That is until the 13th hole; I was 2 under playing it and on the cut mark when I holed my second shot (a 6 iron from 202 yards) for an eagle! I followed it up with a birdie on the next to get to five under and well inside the cut mark. In the end I bogeyed the last hole to finish on 4 under.
Saturday was a long day as we were delayed due to bad weather. I was supposed to tee off at 9.04am but I didn’t start till 3.04pm. By the time we got going there wasn’t much wind and the course was soft so you knew scoring was going to be good. I played very nicely and gave myself plenty of chances. I made 7 birdies and really should have made another 3 or 4. I gave 2 shots back by three putting the 3rd and the 9th. To show how good the scoring was, my 5 under only moved me up about 8 places! Had I shot 4 under par I think I would have dropped a place or two. However, the biggest bit of luck I got on Saturday was that we managed to finish our round before the hooter. I was first off and we just made it in, but had I not have finished I would have had to come back to restart at 7.30 on Sunday morning. Instead I got to stay in bed and come out for my final round tee time.
On Sunday I made seven birdies again and this time only one bogey. I played really nicely on the front nine and was four under, but again I could have been a couple better. On my back nine I wasn’t quite as good but I was able to score well. Six under was a fair return for my play.
Overall it was a good week. It was nice to get a good finish under my belt but more importantly it was good to hit the ball well. I drove the ball very straight; I have to say this game is a lot easier when you are coming off the short grass regularly. I felt that everything in my game, bar my wedge play, was good during the week. My wedge play wasn’t up to scratch as I had done a lot of technical practice and so I wasn’t fully committed to my wedges. That said I am very happy with what I saw and it’s off to Bethpage Black now for the PGA Championship. It’s nice to be going there off the back of a good week and feeling good about things.
Talk soon,
Padraig.
An inspiring final day push of 65 from Padraig before next weeks PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. He started the day in T27th spot but climbed fifteen places with a seven-birdie barrage of the Trinty Forest golf course. His fifteen under par total was good enough to earn him 155K dollars and some valuable Fed Ex cup points but more importantly, the confidence booster going into this weeks second Major of the year. He got off to the perfect start with a birdie on the first hole and added three more to race to the turn in 32 shots. He added two more birdies before his only dropped shot of the day, at the par-four 15th hole where he found a bunker off the tee. He hit back with a glorious tee shot on the tough par three 17th hole to four feet and safely two-putted the last from long range. The monster that is Bethpage Black awaits!
Padraig makes a big move up the field to just outside the top twenty with a superb round of 66. He recorded seven birdies on the day and only two three-putts let him down for a wonderful score. The rain-delayed third round still has to be completed but Padraig will have the benefit of having finished his third round and will be hoping for more of the same Sunday! He is now an impressive twelve under par for his last 45 holes!
Padraig shoots a second round of two under par to finish at four under par going into the weekend. He got off to the perfect start with a birdie four but gave it back at the par five 7th hole to be out in level par. He then holed his second shot from over 200 yards on the par four 13th hole to record his second eagle of the week and followed that with a birdie on the next hole. He finally gave a shot back on the last when he three-putted from long range. He tees off Saturday at 9.04am local time with Cameron Tringale and Morgan Hoffman!
Padraig yet again showed his true grit with an extraordinary finish to his round to shoot a two-under-par round of 69. Starting on the back nine, he got off to a terrible start with a double-bogey six on the par four 11th hole where he had to take a penalty drop. He followed that with another dropped shot on the par three 17th hole to be out in three over par. At this stage, he looked doomed to a poor round but fought back brilliantly to pick up five shots coming home to play the front nine in 31 shots! The highlight was a chip in on the par five 7th hole for an eagle three to finish his round with a 3-2-3 score! He tees off Friday at 8.10am local time.
Padraig is at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas Texas for this weeks PGA Tour stop, the AT&T Byron Nelson. It is a very low scoring course with 23 under winning last year. Aaron Wise is your defending champion this week. Padraig tees off late Thursday at 1.20pm with Nick Taylor and Jonathan Byrd.