Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington is one of the hardest-working professionals on tour. So when he talks about what works and what doesn’t, we listen.
When it comes to his changing his golf equipment, Padraig Harrington admits to being a “little bit lazy”.
“I don’t like changing for the sake of it,” the longtime Wilson ambassador tells TG. “It takes a bit of effort to change.”
In any other golfing context, the word “lazy” would be an insult to Harrington.
This, after all, is a notoriously hard practicer who still spends countless hours on the range seeking improvement despite a garlanded career that reached heights most of his peers can only dream of. But it was fascinating nonetheless to understand the process the gregarious three-time major champion goes through when switching the clubs in his bag.
Harrington has his favorite clubs but sometimes feels compelled to change when he senses a positive change on the course.
However, as the nights begin to draw in and golfers in the UK are forced inside to continue their golf obsession, the Irishman has made a timely argument about the indoor version of the sport: Do not let results on the simulator dictate your golf.
“I hate to say it,” Harrington explains, “but performing in a simulator, on a mat, is useless. It’s irrelevant.”
Harrington concedes that “some people have no option and it’s the best of a bad bunch”, but used his own experience over a decade ago to explain why basing a decision based purely on hitting balls in practice could be a bad mistake.
“I used a driver around 2013 for three months and my friends used to laugh saying that driver never worked a weekend in its life,” he says. “I didn’t make a cut with it and I kept using it because I hit it great on the range. I could hit it great when I hit 10 drives in a row but I couldn’t hit it great when I hit one drive. That’s why you’ve got to take things into competition and see what they’re like.
“Iron testing is basically test it, have a look, see what you think you like, get what you think you like. Get a fitting for sure, but get on the range and then you have to get on the golf course.
“It’s one-offs that mostly count. A lot of people will warm up and be able to hit a stiffer shaft 10-12 times once they’re into it, but you only get one go on the golf course.”
In his discussion with TG, Harrington also weighed in on the perennial rollback debate, suggesting he would reduce the number of clubs in the bag to make the game more challenging.
“I do think they should bring that down to 12 or maybe 10 [clubs],” he said. “I’d have no problem with driver size being shrunk, I’d have no problem with the ball being dialled back. There’s no problem with reducing the number of clubs. The putter should definitely be the shortest club in the bag.
“I don’t mind if they shorten the tee. I don’t mind if they want to bring anything just to hold things in place and increase the skill level. I think we’re really good at adjusting. I wouldn’t have a problem with everything staying the same either, right now.
“But the problem is I don’t believe it will stay the same. But I’d be very happy, if they just said, ‘right, this is it.’ They thought they said that 10 years ago and you can see how much it’s advanced in that time.”
Padraig Harrington on how he chooses his gear
You can watch Padraig Harrington’s full interview with TG equipment editor Lewis Daff in the player below or on our YouTube channel.