Padraig Harrington is relishing the defence of his title at this week’s Iskandar Johor Open, but the three-time Major Champion is expecting a very different test to the one he encountered last time.
The Irishman ended a two-year barren spell when he cruised to victory by three shots from young Korean Noh Seung-yul 12 months ago, when the tournament formed part of the Asian Tour schedule.
For the first time this year the event is being co-sanctioned by The European and Asian Tours, with an increased prize fund of US$2million on offer to a galaxy of international stars which includes Harrington’s fellow former Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, European Tour champions Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, plus US PGA Tour champions Anthony Kim of America and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.
But whilst Harrington is aware of the strength of his co-competitors, he is also wary of how the Ross Watson-designed course at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club might play this time around, after the recent rain which has fallen in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
The course has been changed to a par 71 following the decision to alter the fourth hole from a par four to a par three and, with further rain and thunderstorms predicted for the duration of the event, Harrington believes the layout will play every inch of its 6,783 yards.
He said: “It’s always nice to come back to a golf course where you’ve won before. It obviously comes with certain expectations, and hopefully I can live up to them this week. The course is very different to the one we played last year. A few of the holes have been lengthened, the rough’s much heavier and the fairways are very soft, whereas they were pretty firm last year. So whilst we were getting 30 to 40 yards of run here last year, you probably won’t be getting any this year. So it’ll be interesting to see how it affects the scoring – I certainly don’t think the winning score will be as low as last year’s.
“If you were to pick some names who are likely to be in contention this week, then the guys sitting either side me would be right at the top of the list. But there are 156 guys here this week, and most – if not all – of them are very good players. So you’re going to have to play very well and hole a lot of putts to win the tournament.
“It’s very hard to predict who’s going to win a golf tournament these days, because pretty much every player in the field is quite capable on their day. I would obviously be delighted if I were to beat these five guys this week, but it certainly wouldn’t guarantee that I’d win the tournament. So it’s always better to focus on your own game rather than on anyone else. All you can do is just give it your best shot and see where it takes you.”
Oosthuizen arrives in Malaysia in fine fettle having finished in a tie for third place at last week’s Singapore Open, where he birdied three of his last four holes but missed out on joining Juvic Pagunsan and eventual champion Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño in a play-off by a single stroke.
The 2010 Open Champion is hoping to fly to China for next week’s Omega Mission Hills World Cup with his confidence further buoyed by another dynamic display on Asian soil.
He said: “Last week in Singapore was good. I’ve been playing pretty well for a while now, and whilst it was obviously disappointing not to get the win, I was still very happy with how I hit the ball last week – especially on the second and third days.
“I haven’t played this course before, but I would imagine it’ll be a fairly similar test to last week. I played nine holes this morning and the greens were very good – you wouldn’t have guessed they’d had so much rain here lately. So I’m really looking forward to the week.”
Stenson, meanwhile, is feeling the effects of a heavy cold, but is hopeful the phrase “beware the wounded golfer” applies to him this week, when he will be hoping to capture his first European Tour title for four years.
He said: “I’m not feeling too energetic at the moment, but hopefully I’ll get better as the week goes on. I haven’t seen that much of the course yet, because I only played the front nine on Monday and then the Pro-Am was cancelled after three holes yesterday, so I’m planning on having a look at the back nine later today.
“I’ve liked what I’ve seen of the course so far – there are a lot of risk/reward holes, and it’s very well-bunkered. So there’s the option of taking on a few holes or else playing a bit more conservatively, depending on how you’re feeling or what position you’re in. It makes you think a little bit, which I like.
“My game’s coming along, and I’m hitting the ball better all the time. Even though I missed the cut last week, I didn’t play that badly – I just didn’t take my chances on the greens. Hopefully that changes this week, because it’s my last event of the year so it’d be good to sign off the season with a decent performance.”
