Padraig Harrington admitted on Wednesday he is in a race against time to have his game in good enough shape to win a third successive Open title.
"If I'm going to play well in The Open it's got to start now - I'm running out of time," said Harrington on the eve of the French Open Alstom at Le Golf National near Paris.
The Dubliner has missed his last four halfway cuts - and five of the last six - during a nightmare run after deciding to make swing changes despite his back-to-back major wins last season.
But he added: "I'm always optimistic and I still believe I am going to be ready. But, then again, I thought I would be ready for the US Open."
That was Harrington's last tournament and he had two rounds of 76 at Bethpage Black to crash out by eight shots. He finished joint 137th of the 156 players.
He added: "I'm still trying to find the magic stick that goes straight and long," he commented. "Aren't we all?"
01 July, 2009