Padraig Harrington has confirmed that he now intends to play in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral later in the month.
Dubliner looking to get back on course after early exit at Accenture
Padraig Harrington has confirmed that he has added the WGC-CA Championship to his schedule in the wake of his early exit from last week's Accenture Match Play Championship.
The Dubliner had originally planned to take an extended break before returning to action at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on March 26th - thus allowing him to stick to his routine of playing two consecutive events in the run-up to a major.
However, while he will still adhere to that plan ahead of The Masters, he has now decided to add in a trip to Doral to compete over the famed Blue Monster course in the CA Championship.
Harrington, who lost to Pat Perez in the first round in Arizona, believes he will benefit from the opportunity of getting in four rounds at the non-cut event in Miami - even though it involves a fair bit of additional travelling.
"Having lost so early here (Accenture Match Play) it means that I would have nearly four weeks off before I come back for Bay Hill," he told his personal website.
"It is always disappointing to go out in any round but to lose in the first round is particularly frustrating as it is like missing the cut in a regular event and when you have missed the previous two cuts the feeling is even worse.
"Knowing that it isn't my golf game that is the problem I have decided to change my schedule and only take one week off and then come back for the CA Championship in Doral.
"I had originally planned a three-week break but seeing as I never really got into proper playing mode on this trip I feel that having another tournament will only benefit me.
"So I am home for a week and half and then back to Florida for one week."
Mental issues
Harrington went on to admit that it is the mental side of the game with which he has been struggling, with excessive technical thoughts impinging on his on-course performance.
However, after spending some time with his mental coach, Dr Bob Rotella, the 37-year-old is feeling more positive and believes he is on the way to turning around his form.
"It was another disappointing week for me; more so this week as I was making good progress on my mental side," he continued. "I would really like to have had another couple of rounds to get it right.
"I came into this event struggling a bit, not with my golf game but with my focus and routines.
"(But) I did a lot of good work with Bob Rotella on this area in practise; it definitely helped me a lot and I felt far better in my match than I had in any of the previous weeks."
