THE MODERATOR: Padraig Harrington is with us following the final day of the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Padraig, how would you maybe summarize your day today and the whole week for you?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Probably yesterday was the day I played great yesterday. I created so many chances. I left a few out there. Today, it's always going to be a tough day on the final day. That's what playing in the last round of a tournament is in contention. Slight things. The wind changed on me on 8 and I made bogey. Hit a bad drive on 12, made bogey.
Then I look back to the two shots I look back on that with a bit of regret is how I played my second shot safe on 14. Pitched on the green and I expected it just to be in the fairway just right, which would have left a very easy chip. And it ran through into the rough. That's the one that I'll look back on and go, you know, I shouldn't have bailed out. Maybe I shouldn't have bailed out there. That's -- but I thought I was fine. I thought I would have had a reasonable eagle chance from there.
Obviously then hit a lovely shot on 17. I don't know if the pin was playable, but it was tough being first up. But that's the nature of the game sometimes. Yeah, that will be where, those two holes really are the ones I'll look back on.
Obviously when we came back out to the playoff the wind had changed and it was, I just didn't have a nice feeling about hitting it up the left over those bunkers. I let it go on the wind. Could have been worse, the lie. Actually in hindsight it would have been better if it was worse, because I would have dropped it in the first place. But the lie wasn't so bad. I was trying to get it down the right-hand side. I could have gone out left. But I thought I could play a great shot down the right. And I just knifed it. I just didn't get down to it. The ball was below my feet. Fat would have been better than thin as it turned out. But there you go, these things happen.
THE MODERATOR: All right, we'll take some questions.
Q. The ball in the hazard at 18?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, it was in the hazard in the long rough. But the grass is so dry you can get through it. It was more the fact, with hindsight, it was quite a bit below my feet and it was, I knifed it. So I didn't get it up out of the lie. It just came out low. As I said, I had about an 80-yard carry. So probably I was thinking of hitting it fat, just to maybe -- that was my last thought was fat, because fat was kind of okay. And then I hit it a little thin. I reacted to that. So a bit disappointing to do that. I think I could have, as I said, I'll be disappointed with the tee shot and the second shot. I hit obviously a lovely putt. So can't complain about that. I hit a nice putt in realtime for my birdie. So, yeah, some good and some bad.
Q. Is it somewhat amazing given the chaos that you had a putt?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, you know, true, true. I hit it -- if I hole the putt we could say it was one of the best shots I ever hit. The fact that I didn't hole the putt we'll forget about it. (Laughing.) Golf is cruel. (Laughing.)
Q. How long was that?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: 272.
Q. 5-wood?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: 5-wood. 250 front, 272.
Q. Were you going to pull driver even if you were second off on the playoff hole?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No. Well, I would have, I would have preferred to be second off, yes. It wouldn't have change anything, because Stewart went with the hybrid. I think he was going to go with that anyway and if he had gone hybrid I definitely would have gone driver. So it actually didn't change anything. It certainly made Stewart's -- or not Stewart, obviously, Steve's decision a lot easier, but I think he hit hybrid in realtime. It's an awkward tee shot. If you hit it straight you're running out into the hazard. So you kind of, it's kind of a nasty one for anybody. So I think that's the way he was going to play it. Which it obviously gave me a great advantage if I hit a good drive, like it was a -- I had change for the playoff, but like driver, 8-iron in realtime. So it was, the finish was giving me a good chance. That was my opportunity was to try and win it there on the 18th.
Q. When you say the wind changed, in what direction?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It had died down and was now straight off the left, even maybe, maybe a hair in. Like my 5-wood was in off the left. Whereas, we played it down off the right for our second shots than and we played our tee shot straight down in realtime. So it was substantial -- a little shower came in. So, yeah, look, it was still, if I hit a good drive it was still well on, it was just that it was a tougher drive and I didn't hit it.
Q. You won some of the biggest titles in the world. What's the lasting emotion of a week like this when you're up there?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You know, right now I'm disappointed. You always look at final round and you go, if I knew then what I know now. And that's experience. I think, yeah, I think, what, 18-under made the playoff. Yeah, I should have done that. So you look back and you have to be there -- you know, you need to be in contention often to see those situations. Sometimes you over read things.
The other would be pretty straightforward things I've been saying. Look, like when you see me hit a shot like that fourth shot into 18, sometimes when my back's to the wall I really can focus. Sometimes when I, when I'm too, not casual, but when the shots are, when the shot doesn't take my interest, like yesterday where I took the double bogey on 16, yeah. So I see things like that and that's, I know there's quite a bit to 'em where I can improve. So I'm not going to walk away from this and -- I'll actually go, Well, I left several shots out there. I can do this, do that.
I will have to say, like Steve is probably the toughest guy you could ever play on a Sunday. He has to have the best wedge game in the world. Like he's a fabulous putter, he's a fabulous chipper, but his wedge play like at the first 14 holes was just spectacular. 15 holes. Like, really, like did he ever hit it outside -- like he was getting, it was getting to the stage where it looked like he would hole a wedge. I know he did this week. But it was very impressive. So Steve is, he is probably, in a match play situation, he's somebody you don't want to be playing against, because he can hit a great wedge, he can hit a great iron shot when he has to. He hit a fabulous shot into 10 from over 200 yards. I know that would be underrated, but he can play the golf. And then he obviously can hit a great wedge. And he's a good putter. So he's probably the hardest guy you ever, one of the harder guys to come up against in that situation.
Q. Have to ask you real quick about your generosity to the fan that you hit.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I bought him a dinner. He nutted my ball back to the fairway. So, yeah, like, you give him a glove, but it never really seems adequate to give a guy a glove. He's a grown man, like what's he want with a glove with my signature? So I thought -- he said his wife was inside -- but, please take your wife out for dinner on me was the sort of thing. I don't know, I hope I gave him enough for dinner. (Laughing.)
Q. Do players --
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: 300 dollars should cover it, wouldn't it?
Q. Do players carry cash for those instances?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, well, I don't know about that, but, you carry it for the, you try and carry as much cash as you can for the end of the week. Hoping that you win so you can hand it out.
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