Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington went into the 2011 U.S. Open brimming with confidence.
After all, fellow pro Adam Scott had talked up the Irishman’s hopes to the point where the former told the rest of the field it wasn’t even worth competing.
But little did he know a fresh-faced Rory McIlroy was about to steal the show.
The 21-year-old McIlroy had earned plenty of admirers in 2010 having finished T3 at The Open and the PGA Championship that year.
Yet it didn’t stop Scott from anointing Harrington as the favourite to take home what would have been his fourth major.
Perhaps the Australian and Harrington should’ve taken the Northern Irishman a little more seriously, as he went on to decimate the competition.
In an appearance on the Cookie Jar Golf podcast, Harrington revealed just how scintillating McIlroy’s performance was at the Congressional Country Club course.
“Rory broke me in 2011,” Harrington said.
“[He] broke everybody, but I was the best player. That’s what I believed.
“So I’ve gone into Congressional. I played a practice round with Adam Scott on Wednesday.
“He [Scott] came in and did an interview and told everybody to go home. He says, ‘You might as well go home. Padraig Harrington is winning this.’
“I am… in my head, I am the best player. I’ve won three majors just recently. I’m in great form. I prepared right.
GettyWhile McIlroy was shooting off to stardom[/caption]
“I go into this tournament and Rory does something that I can’t compete with. Wipes the floor. Like we’re all the same. He’s just blown us all away.”
To say McIlroy wiped the floor is perhaps somewhat of a disservice to just how brilliantly he performed at the 2011 U.S. Open to win his first major.
The Northern Irishman flew out of the gates with a sensational opening round of 65 and it set the tone for what was to come.
He carded rounds of 66, 68 and 69 to set a U.S. Open record for the lowest score for 72 holes at 268.
Jason Day finished second at the tournament that year by a whopping eight strokes, underlining McIlroy’s dominant display.
As for Harrington, Scott’s prediction fell flat.
Harrington ended the tournament at five-over, leaving him tied for 45th.
The fact Harrington was outplayed by someone far younger than him left the Irishman questioning whether he had much longer left at the top.
“That’s OK if I thought I could get better,” Harrington said.
“That’s fine. So when Tiger (Woods) was doing that in the early 2000s, I was only on my way up. This is me at my best and I don’t think I can compete with him.
“So the big difference, and it’s happened – name every player who has hit a peak – in 2008, I was not looking over my shoulder. I was only concerned about me.
“[From] 2011 onwards, I’m now thinking I’m not good enough. I need to be a better version of me in order to compete with Rory.”
Harrington failed to add to his three major wins after that disruption, while McIlroy would go on to up his total to four.
However, the 35-year-old hasn’t added to that total since 2014, suffering a complete collapse at the 2024 US Open, perhaps awakening old ghosts.