What he said: Padraig Harrington on his Honda win

Padraig Harrington is one of the most engaging talkers in the world of golf.

The three-time major winner always has plenty to say and after his victory at The Honda Classic, he was on top form.

We pick out all the best lines from his post-round interview, starting with his assessment of the tee shot on 17 which helped him edge Daniel Berger in a play-off.

“You know, I never have trouble hitting a big shot at a big time. When my back’s to the wall I tend to hit the shot,” Harrington said

“When I got to 9‑under par, I should have been able to go away from the field at that stage. But I do struggle in that situation.

“I’m good at recovering and hitting the shots when the pressure is on, but I just need to manage it when it’s not on.

“The good thing is I won a couple of times in Asia. I won just five tournaments ago in Indonesia. I won the Grand Slam event. When I got myself in contention, I was converting.

“There was a time I used to finish second a lot. Now I just don’t get myself in that position enough.

“But it was all about getting into the last nine holes, even when I came to the last nine today, my caddie said to me: Going into the back nine, you’re four behind, would you have taken this at the start of the week? I said, absolutely. Any chance coming down the stretch, it’s just where you want to be.
I think I got in contention three times since 2008, and I’ve won the three events – four times now “I’m a better player when I’m attacking from behind. I tend to have better focus and be a bit more aggressive.

“It’s okay if you’re chasing and you can go after a few pins but if you’re trying to protect something and you’re leading the tournament, there’s an awful lot of trouble.

“Punters at home would have been watching this and seeing a lot of shots that they had be thinking, wow, I could do better than that. But this is the nature of the golf course.

“It really is a big, tough challenging. It’s a great test here. Jack has done a tremendous job with it.

“You know, I know players who don’t like coming here because it’s so tough. It’s one of those golf courses, when you get yourself in contention, it is a little bit uncomfortable, but that’s the way it is.

“You know, clearly if I play like that going forward, I will have better performances, and selfishly or whatever, my mind‑set is, maybe I could do it better in the future.

“I think I got in contention three times since 2008, and I’ve won the three events – four times now.

“You know, I just got very intolerant of my mental game, my focus.

“It was never swing related, all focus related, and just got frustrated with it and found it very hard to really separate from the bad shots.

“I had the yips in 2012. I had my best ball‑striking year ever in 2012, in terms of the stats, but I had the yips that year.

“When you get things like that, it’s really frustrating, it’s really hard. You don’t know what to do. You grind your way through it and it is a tough thing to get through.

“There’s no doubt low points in those years, because you know, in 2008, 2009, I’m very much in the penthouse. I wasn’t quite down to the doghouse but not far away from it.

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