Pádraig Harrington overcame an ice-cold putter to make the cut in The Open and insisted he has no intention of retiring yet as he renewed his belief he can compete with the young guns.
The Dubliner, 53 next month, struggled to make anything on the greens over the first two days as he added a two-over 73 to his opening 72 to make the cut on three-over.
“I could easily be well under par here — two, three under par, four under par,” he said. “That would be required to be in contention. So I’m feeling a lot better this week. I’ll be back. I’m not retiring yet!”
Harrington followed a bogey at the par-five sixth with a birdie from four feet at the seventh but got distracted by the cut line and bogeyed the 11th, 12th and 14th to leave himself needing a strong finish to make the weekend.
“I just kind of hit a wall, even though I shouldn’t have been, I was thinking about the cut,” he said after following a birdie at the 16th with two closing pars.
“I’ve been putting magnificent coming in here, but both days I just haven’t holed a putt. I don’t know what the longest putt I’ve holed in is. I certainly haven’t holed too many.”
He added: “I played terrible last week (in the Scottish Open) and putted well for two days. This week, I came out and played really well and putted terribly. That’s golf.
“As I said, last week I was struggling. I fell way off the mark last week. I suppose, when you miss cuts, that’s what happens. You just feel like, I’m not with it. This week I’m really disappointed to be 3-over par. If I had a good week in the greens, I’d be a lot better. Yeah, I was very capable so far this week.
“I am a lot more bullish about my game. Last week I was kind of struggling in my head and saying, what am I doing here? This week I know why I’m here.”
Darren Clarke also showed he can compete in tough links conditions, firing a level par 71 that gave him a chance to make the weekend on six over.
While next year’s Open at Royal Portrush might be the ideal scenario for him to say goodbye at age 55, he made three birdies in his first five holes before following bogeys at the ninth, 11th, 12th and 16th with a birdie from four feet at the last.
Meanwhile, Galway amateur Liam Nolan made one birdie, five bogeys and a double bogey in a 77 to miss the weekend on 13 over.
But he was far from downcast after his major debut.
“Yeah, incredible,” he said. “It was really tough conditions out there. So, you know, a lot to learn from my first major and I’ll be back. So, there is a lot to take away from it.
“I have a couple of tournaments left as an amateur, and then I’m going to turn pro at the end of August, and we’ll take it from there.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience from my amateur career that I can take into my pro game, and yeah, I’m really looking forward to the next step.”