Harrington happy with changes

PEBBLE Beach gave Irish golf one of its greatest moments last summer when Graeme McDowell lifted the US Open and Padraig Harrington will be hoping some of that magic rubs off on him this week.

After two events in the Middle East - one of them a controversial disqualification - Harrington starts his PGA Tour campaign at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am. The Dubliner, whose last success in America was his 2008 USPGA triumph, believes the time has come to concentrate on just playing rather than thinking about all the changes he made prior to the season. He said: "I am happy with how my winter work has progressed, but it was very hard to leave it behind me when I got to the course."

After finishing only 58th in Bahrain two weeks ago, he added: "I definitely got caught on a number of shots where I was stuck between trying to do one thing but still thinking about my swing changes.

"I felt that the work I have done will make a big difference. That said, though, I am fully aware after these two weeks that I need to try and forget about it and get my mind focused on playing and scoring. A lot of my dropped shots were down to my lack of sharpness. In general it was my short game and decision-making with regard to my chip shots that cost me. The good thing about playing these two weeks is that it reminds me what I need to do. I know that I have to spend more time on my short game, although I know that it gets better as I play more."

Harrington, again partnering racehorse owner JP McManus, lines up against a field which includes world No 4 four Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, winner for the past two years.

Not that Johnson will be thinking only of those two victories when he returns to Pebble Beach on Saturday after first playing Monterey Peninsular and Spyglass Hill. He led the field by three entering the final round of the US Open, then shot 82 to drop to eighth spot.