REIGNING US SENIOR Open champion Pádraig Harrington endured a difficult first round in the defence of his title after a three-over par 74 left him tied for 69th.
The Dubliner finished six shots off leader Rob Pampling, although Brazilian Adilson da Silva was two-under through the first five holes.
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke finished on four-over on a disappointing day for the Irish.
Harrington began his round on the back nine and when he birdied the par-four 11th it looked as though he was on for a promising start in Wisconsin.
However, that momentum didn’t last and he bogeyed three of the next four holes with another birdie sandwiched in between. Six pars on the bounce steadied things somewhat but a bogey on five was followed by a double on six with just three holes to play.
Some days are a real struggle. My mind was not settled at all today over the ball. It happens but I stuck in there and got a lot out of my round, finishing 1 under for last 3 holes. Shot 74, 3 over, 6 behind. @ChampionsTour #USSeniorOpen https://t.co/D9BmMensMv
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) June 29, 2023
A birdie on the eighth clawed back some of the damage but he faces a battle to find his form, and he admitted afterwards he had issues concentrating.
“Some days are a real struggle. My mind was not settled at all today over the ball. It happens but I stuck in there and got a lot out of my round,” he wrote on Twitter.
Clarke also started his opening round on the back nine and looked primed for a battle at the top of the leaderboard with three birdies from those first nine holes.
There was a bogey in there too, though, and his back nine proved disastrous with four bogeys and one double-bogey seven seeing him fall out of contention.
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