Composed Harrington makes bright start

Apr 9 2009

A smiling Padraig Harrington, doing a brilliant job of handling all the pressure on him, began his bid for a third successive major title with a three-under-par 69 in The Masters at Augusta National.

It was a better score than he had produced in the opening round either at The Open or the US PGA last year and it left the Irishman only three behind clubhouse leader Jim Furyk.

But a bogey six on the long 15th - a hole which has got the better of him several times in the past - was a blow Harrington could have done without.

And that was made even more the case given that in the group behind him former US Open champion Furyk had four birdies in a row from the 14th to edge one ahead of Japan's Shingo Katayama and fellow Americans Chad Campbell, Hunter Mahan and 50-year-old Larry Mize.

Good news for Harrington, who matched his best start to the tournament, was that Phil Mickelson managed only a 73 and late starter Tiger Woods was down on one over after seven holes.

The Dubliner was leading the European contingent along with England's Ross Fisher, who reached five under before bogeying the last two for a 69 on his debut in the tournament.

Rory McIlroy, in the last group of the day just behind Woods, started with six straight pars, but had had to work hard for the first of them after going from bunker to bunker.