Prudent Padraig Harrington played it super-safe in first round of the Open and admitted: Now I have to attack.

The Dubliner risked nothing over the 7,034 yards of Muirfield but still carded five birdies and just three bogeys in an ultra cautious 69.

But while his score could have been so much better, Argentine veteran Eduardo Romero reckons that Harrington's cool brain could help him claim the title.

The winner of last week's Scottish Open fancies the Dubliner to go all the way because of his intelligent approach to the game.

Said Romero: "Padraig has a great head on the course, he is a very intelligent player and he never does anything silly."

He added with a smile: "I think he will win a Major, but not this week. I am still here."

But while Romero shot a one over par 72, Harrington's two under par 69 got better as the day went on.

He said: "I'm satisfied, just about, but I have got to take my shots on a little bit more for the next three days. I probably only hit one poor shot all day, at 16 where I took bogey.

"I never stand on the first tee and start going for it from the word go. I am much more likely to build up and go with the flow and not play too aggressively because you can play your way out of a major very quickly."

Out a 10 o'clock in the morning, the world number 10 began with four straight pars and then birdied the only par fives on the front nine - the fourth and ninth - to reach the turn in two under par.

But instead of attacking the course after that, Harrington played ultra conservative golf to avoid making any errors.

"As in any Major, when you go out in the first round you try not to make too many mistakes and blow yourself out of the tournament straight away," he said.

"Funnily enough I made the two bogeys when I started to play my best golf. At the 10th I hit a great drive and a beautiful shot over the pin and three putted and then I three-putted again at the next after another good shot.

"It was a lot of hard work because I had to concentrate hard all day. I played for the middle of the greens and had a lot of 30 and 40 footers and left myself a lot of three-footers for par. To be honest I wasn't that comfortable on the greens.

"I had started to play a bit better after plodding along on the first few holes and I played very conservative all the way through the front nine and most of the way through the back nine. I took on a few more shots near the end but while it could have been better I'm not too unhappy."

Back to level par after bogeys at the 10th and 11th, Harrington fired a sand wedge to three feet at the 12th before holing from 12-feet for a two at the 191 yard 13th after a glorious four-iron to go back to two under.

But the course was always going to punish a wayward shot and Harrington's first loose effort of the day came at the 186 yard 16th where he pushed his six iron into a bunker.

He failed to save par after splashing out to 10 feet but made amends at the 546 yard 17th by smashing a driver off the tee and then threading a three-wood between the bunkers to 50 feet for a two-putt birdie.

"I played very conservatively early on and even it five irons off some of the tees. On one hole I hit the five iron 240 yards off the tee. I hit a four iron off the tee at the ninth, a par five.

"I had two three-putts at 10 and 11. It's tough when you are continually two-putting from 40 feet and you've just got to stay focussed."

"I thought the scoring would be better and my round is just okay. The pin positions weren't hidden. Nothing is tricked up and it's all out there in front of you and the toughest thing was picking the right club off the tee."

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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