‘A Lot of Pressure’: 3X Major Champion Confesses His Honest Feelings on Playing in a PGA Tour Event

Athletes face a pressure-filled environment every day. And although golf is seen as a relaxing sport, professionally, it is anything but! Golf pros face many pressures, both on and off the course. From rigorous training sessions to highly competitive events, their careers are certainly no walk in the park. Recently a 3-time major winner also opened one such pressure that takes its toll on the pros, and it was surprisingly all about the holes played at PGA Tour events.

The 6-time PGA Tour victor gets candid about the issues he now faces

Padraig Harrington turned pro in 1995, and since then he has amassed quite a winning record for himself. The Irishman plays on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and when he turned 50 in 2021, he also began playing on the PGA Tour Champions. It’s safe to say he’s seen the competitiveness on all fronts of the sport! And he recently even spoke up about its hardships.

Just last week, Harrington competed on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic against a tough field. The 51-year-old didn’t have a glorious finish at the event and ended the fourth round tied for 60th place. But the event highlighted for him the biggest issue he now faces: “the cut.”

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The majority of PGA Tour and European Tour events see a cut made after 36 or 54 holes. But that’s not the case on the PGA Tour Champions, where the Irishman now regularly plays. “It’s amazing how hard it is to play when you’re thinking about the cut,” he said to Golfweek ahead of the Tour event last week. “A lot of pressure, a lot of stress in that cut line, and it doesn’t matter how good, what you’ve done in your career.”

Harrington reveals how cuts affect the players

Looking at the game from the outside, it’s easy to think that cuts don’t matter to the best golfers on the course. But that’s not the case at all! “Professional golfers have this silly thing in our heads that we don’t want to miss cuts,” explained the 6-time PGA Tour victor. “We don’t want a weekend off.”

Harrington explained that just the thought of the cut was enough to mess with a pro’s mind. “I could be chasing down the lead and it wouldn’t bother me whatsoever,” he stated. “But if I’m on that cut line, I’m like, ‘Oh, you don’t want to mess that one up.'” He enjoys not having that pressure while playing on the senior tour.

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But he’ll have to deal with that mental state next week once more since he’s chosen to compete against 119 others in the $20 million Arnold Invitational. How do you think he will perform in the face of pressure? Tune in to find out.