THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Padraig and Paddy Harrington here at the PNC Championship. Just to start, how excited are you guys to be back here?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It's always a great one to come back to. For me when I get to the end of the year, the last couple months, I'm looking forward to this event. It's all about this. For Paddy, you're looking about six months out thinking about this event.
It's a big deal for the family, the whole family come out. Great time of the year for us. The weather is great to come over to. It's an exciting week. Every year we come, we feel like we're getting a little bit better.
Not just a fun week, a family week, and a little bit competitive as well week.
PADDY HARRINGTON: Yeah, I pretty much agree with everything he was saying there. I think it's a great week of the year. We finish up on Sunday. We go home, Christmas straight away. So as he said, I'm looking forward to it.
Nearly on the plane on the way home, but also coming up to it you're getting nervous about the week itself and things like that, yeah.
Q. Paddy, how are you feeling about your game coming into this week and progressed since last year's event?
PADDY HARRINGTON: Every year there's something going well and something that went well the year before that isn't going as well, or at least I feel like it's not going as well. I put on a lot of speed and hitting it much further than I had been, maybe like 30 yards this summer, I think.
He's actually come up on my tees this year, which is fantastic for me. I thought I was going to maybe get to use some of my drives. Yeah, I think I'm feeling good. We had a good Pro-Am today. Hit some nice shots, hit some good drives, yeah, happy.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It all comes down to we'll be pretty strong off the tee. It all comes down to whether we're good with the wedges and whether we hole putts. It's interesting coming here every year I can literally chart the golfing ability of, especially my oldest since he started at 14, how it's changed all through the years.
I don't think without the PNC Championship, I think my kids because of it have a much better love for the game of golf. Golf can be -- for any of the kids of a professional golfer, it can be quite a frustrating game. There's always high expectations. This is the ideal event in terms of it's a scramble, it's relaxed, it's family oriented, it gets them into it. It gets them playing in a competitive environment without being super competitive.
They're not trying to be pros. They're out here just trying to hit some good shots and enjoy it. There really isn't anything like it. I have to always be thankful for PNC for bringing that interest in the game of golf to my kids that they want to turn up and be respectable. They want to hit some good shots and show up and at least look like somebody would go, oh, if they tried a little harder or worked a little bit more, they could have been a pro sort of way.
I think they've kind of got there. Paddy for sure will hit some shots better than me during the week, and he'll hit some shots worse than me during the week, but that's what an amateur golfer does.
PADDY HARRINGTON: I think to add to that as well, was it yesterday or maybe the day before we were playing a practice round, and Dad and his caddie Ronan made a comment that I play -- they were very proud because I play very Harrington golf. I hit long drives and chip okay, but the greens in reg are not that high.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You could definitely tell he's my son. He hits it well off the tee, pretty long, and he's a good chipper of the golf ball. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Q. I never have any questions because you answer everything.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I know, I talk too much.
Q. I'm not saying that. I was just fascinated by the idea of how much this can inspire a child to play. Is it easy to get driven from the game, and how does that happen?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Unfortunately, for the sons of professional golfers or daughters, it's very competitive. They're seeing their dad, parent competing all the time, the highs and lows of that. And the expectations when everybody turns up and watches them, there's always expectations. It's a pretty tough, frustrating game to be the parent.
Especially as we're so good and so much better than our kids for such a long period of time. Like I probably passed my father in golfing ability at 13 years of age, 13, 14. So it's tough for the kids.
This is a way to get them interested, get them working on their game, get them looking forward to something in a very, very relaxed manner. Every year I enjoy coming here because I've gotten to know the other pros' sons and daughters and I've seen them grow up.
I really enjoyed watching Brady Duval the other day. I was goading him on the range, and he got 193 ball speed. I enjoyed that. It was fun to go over and have a look at him and to push him on. I've said this before, I always believe when it comes to this event, we should swap -- in terms of coaching, we should all be allocated somebody else's son or daughter, and then it's a lot easier to talk to them and give them lessons.
But it's very nice, as I said, to watch the other kids. You don't necessarily know the other families when you're out on TOUR, and this is a place that everybody's very relaxed, very comfortable. We're playing here eight years. We're actually -- you know, you're wishing the other guys the best, especially the kids.
We've had some very nice partnerships. The Normans were great to us one year when Paddy was little.
PADDY HARRINGTON: That was our first year, 20 -- I would have been 14, yeah.
Q. They were so encouraging. It really helps when the opposite father in that makes the other son relaxed. We all want the kids, especially the kids, to play well and enjoy it and hit great shots. So it's a fantastic opportunity.
Like for Paddy, when you consider the hole-in-one he had last year, probably golf is never going to get any better than that one shot. Unfortunately, everything else is never going to be as good, but that's what this tournament gives. It gives unbelievable highlights to all the families and the kids.
Q. Were you more excited for Paddy's hole-in-one than you were for that 10-foot putt you holed at Oakland Hills at the end?
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: In the moment excited, yeah. Definitely, I was jumping around and dancing around when Paddy holed-in-one. I celebrated well the PGA and afterwards, but I think in the moment I let go a lot more with Paddy's hole-in-one than I would have with me winning a tournament, the PGA in particular.
Q. You looked like you were going to say something, Paddy.
PADDY HARRINGTON: I was just going to say that I feel like winning the PGA -- from my perspective, I guess, different from his perspective, but I guess the question was towards him.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: It's a bigger deal having won the PGA, but in the moment, I would have let go more with his hole-in-one. I would have got more excited.
Q. Were you there? How old were you, 8?
PADDY HARRINGTON: No, 4.
Q. Strong memories?
PADDY HARRINGTON: The year before I just asked to put the lady birds in the cup.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You have more memories of 2007 than 2008?
PADDY HARRINGTON: I very vividly remember running onto the green in 2007 before the playoff. I definitely don't really remember --
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: He probably got pushed by his mother. Get out there, cheer him up somehow.
Q. Paddy, how cool was it to see your dad become the fifth man to win The Open and Senior Open?
PADDY HARRINGTON: Yeah, this summer, I have to say it's probably been one of the least nerve-racking ones that we've had on the Senior Tour.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: He was there.
PADDY HARRINGTON: We'd just been to the -- we drove up to the British Open. It was obviously in the north of Ireland this year, came back and flew to London for a few days then got the train down.
In comparison, it was such -- normally for all the events, it's such a panic coming in. Like you think back to the first U.S. Senior Open, like five-shot lead going into the last round, and I nearly died. This one it was very satisfying, particularly because I'd been to the two before where just coming short was disappointing. But getting over the line this year was really nice.
Especially Sunningdale was so nice. We had great weather all week and things like that.
Q. Last year your dad said that both you and your brother want to play with him in the PNC Championship every year. He even joked that the two of you would have to face off against each other in a long drive competition for the right to play in the PNC Championship. My serious question is since you're playing this year, are you the current world long drive champion of the Harrington family?
PADDY HARRINGTON: Yeah, I think I hit it further than Ciarán at the moment.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Beats me at the moment.
PADDY HARRINGTON: I think I hit it further than him at the moment to be honest.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: We conveniently -- the 18-year-old is doing exams this year. So while he is here, he wouldn't have been able to practice. Even though it was probably meant to be his turn, Paddy stepped in. He was a very polite brother to step in, grabbed it as quick as he could.
PADDY HARRINGTON: It was really tough.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON: As regards long drive, I peaked at 189 ball speed this year, and Paddy peaked at 194 ball speed. He has me at the top end of it. So we'll see how that progresses in future years.
He's definitely ahead of the younger brother. The younger brother needs to get going when it comes to that, putting a bit of speed on.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports