Padraig Harrington unquestionably possesses one of the finest short games in the entire history of the sport.
However, despite Harrington‘s brilliance around the greens, Seve Ballesteros is the man widely known as the greatest of them all with a wedge in his hands.
The Spaniard was an absolute wizard around the greens and often left fans gobsmacked by his ability to get up and down out of the worst places possible.
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Tiger Woods possessed similar skill levels to Seve when chipping and pitching during his prime.
Phil Mickelson is another player who is often mentioned when golf fans debate who has the best short game of all time.
However, Harrington firmly believes he was better than all of them.
Padraig Harrington comments on the short games of Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros
Harrington is extremely outspoken when it comes to his views on the state of the professional game right now.
He’s also very humble and always admits that he wasn’t born with the talent that the vast majority of professional golfers were.
However, there is one part of the Irishman’s game that he believes was head and shoulders above every single one of his competitors.
When speaking during an official video for the DP World Tour, Harrington was asked to stay silent until he heard a name who has a better short game than him.
The Irishman stayed silent the entire time and then he explained his thinking behind it.
“All I know is, when they did the stats in the States – strokes gained – they used my 10 worst years and at that stage I was third, and only because I’m not a very good chipper off the fairway. But I’m number one out of the rough.
“I was way better before that. I’ve had some dodgy times in the 10 years they used.
“If I go at my peak, I was the ultimate pro. They say dogs that chase cars and pros that putt for pars don’t last but I was the ultimate pro who putted for pars.
“Everybody on their day … Phil Mickelson probably hits the best of the best shots. Tiger was as good and gritty as you could be. I don’t think you could argue against Tiger, he didn’t leave anything out there.
“But if it comes to chipping, I will back myself against anybody.“
Padraig Harrington’s debatable comments are a sign of his mentality
It’s fair to say that Harrington was just as gritty as Woods, Mickelson and Seve.
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However, he admitted himself that he isn’t a very good chipper off the fairway.
He cannot claim to have a better short game than Woods, Seve and Mickelson after making that admission!
It’s also fair to argue that Harrington didn’t have the flair that the three names above possessed around the greens.
The Irishman clearly possesses wonderful short game skills. However, it’s a stretch to suggest that he is the best of all time with a wedge in his hands around the greens.
From his point of view though, having that mentality is a very good thing and is probably a reason why he has competed at the very highest level of the game for so long.
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