Padraig Harrington braced for 'brutally slow' week

Padraig Harrington is prepared for what he expects to be a slog at LA Country Club, but feels he can make an impression on the unforgiving course.

The US Open gets underway today where the semi-rural oasis of ravines, undulations, sharp elevation changes and punishing non-indigenous Bermuda rough is likely to keep the scoring low.

Last year's victory at the US Senior Open means the 51-year-old is making his first appearance at the tournament since 2013 and is prepared for a huge challenge on a course where failure to make fairways can have serious consequences.

"This is going to be a brutally slow week," he told RTÉ Sport’s Greg Allen. "There are going to be six-hour rounds. It’s probably the toughest course in terms of attrition that we have ever been on, long, hard days out there.

"The cliché is, 'play your own game’. I can’t turn up Thursday morning and hope I find somebody else’s game. I don’t want to rely on turning up and getting lucky on the greens and holing big putts.

"I think if I do my own thing, I’ll be good enough."

The three-time major winner tees off at 8.59pm Irish time alongside Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley.

Being paired with Mickelson in particular is something he described as an "excellent draw".

The pair go back a long time, and Harrington was alongside the American for the first two rounds of his memorable US PGA victory at Kiawah Island in 2021.

With the announcement that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) still causing ripples - Mickelson was one of the first golfers to leave the PGA Tour last year to join the breakaway league – Harrington is looking forward to catching up six-time major winner

"We get on well," he