Wachovia Championship round one: How Harrington shafted everyone else

Padraig Harrington should be careful what he wishes for, even in jest. He claimed the “revolutionary” shaft on his new putter - so new he doesn’t even know its name - is so good the PGA authorities should ban it. What’s so revolutionary about it? He says the shaft has got two lead weights right under the grip that “change the dynamics of the putter substantially".

They might just ban it if that’s true. Mind you, Paddy’s probably got quite a few tournaments to prosper with it before they do. It’s taking them so long to decide what to do with the square-faced driver we’ll probably have moved on to the octagonal version before they bite that bullet. (If we do, remember, you read it here first!)

Harrington’s stats confirm the part the putter played in his round of 66 Thursday. He’s top for putts per round and fifth for putts per green in regulation. But there’s another important stat: he also leads for accuracy off the tee, which is usually key to building a good round at Quail Hollow.

I say usually because it was decidedly not the case for Vijay Singh, who struggled to a 44% accuracy rating, yet still finished just a shot behind the Irishman in much more difficult playing conditions in the afternoon. Average PM scores were more than a shot higher than the morning (74.29 to 73.01). So I think Vijay’s qualifies as round of the day, although if you look at his stats you wonder where it came from.

Similar weather is forecast Friday, which would give Singh and Tiger Woods, sitting three shots further back, a decided edge as they go out in the morning. Harrington’s position reminds me of the Nissan, where he led for two rounds on the back of an opening 63. Only I wonder, as he goes out in the afternoon, whether his lead will last as long this time.

As for Tiger, his price in the market has hardly shifted, for all that he’s four shots worse off now with fewer holes to play. When he shot a first round 70 here two years ago he struggled to finish 11th, a massive 10 shots behind the winner. I would expect him to fare much better Friday, but he will need to pull his putting socks up considerably - 31 putts per round against Harrington’s 24 tells that particular story. Maybe Paddy could remember the name of his stick so Tiger can get one.