Establishment (P. Harrington) vs. New Breed (D. Johnson)

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Feb. 9, 2011
By PGATOUR.COM staff

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- One of the themes for the 2011 PGA TOUR season is the competition involving the Establishment vs. the New Breed. How will the established players -- those with significant TOUR experience and long-standing championship pedigree -- fare against the young, hungry up-and-comers who are looking to nudge their way into the TOUR's elite?

Each week, PGATOUR.COM will select two players -- one from the New Breed and one for the Establishment -- and analyze their chances heading into the tournament. We'll then track which player has the better score for his team, and keep a running team tally throughout the year.

This week for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we've selected Dustin Johnson for the New Breed and Padraig Harrington for the Establishment. The two met twice in team competition during the Ryder Cup with Harrington and Ross Fisher beating Johnson and Jim Furyk 2 & 1 in Four-balls and Johnson and Mickelson 3 & 2 in Foursomes.




ESTABLISHMENT
AGE: 39
YEARS ON TOUR: He is in his ninth full season on the PGA TOUR.
OVERVIEW: Hard to believe that Harrington, perhaps the most thoughtful and thought-provoking player of his generation, is turning 40 in August. He hasn't won on the PGA TOUR since 2008, but that was a stellar season with consecutive majors -- a successful title defense at the British Open and his first win at the PGA Championship. The inveterate tinker immediately began tweaking his swing in the offseason but showed the work was paying off when he made a strong run in August and September that saw him post top-10s in his last six events of 2009. He's won on the European Tour each of the last two years -- and made headlines in his 2011 debut overseas when he was disqualified prior to the second round for signing an incorrect scorecard after a TV viewer detected his ball moving in high definition after it was replaced on the green. Harrington handled the situation with his usual class, though, and appears ready to move on.
HISTORY IN THIS EVENT: The Irishman has played at Pebble Beach each of the last four years. His best finish is a tie for 14th in 2008 and he tied for 16th a year ago.
OUTLOOK THIS WEEK: Harrington is making his 2011 PGA TOUR debut but he has played twice on the European Tour this year. After the disqualification -- when he was one stroke off the lead -- Harrington tied for 58th at the Volvo Golf Champions. This will be his first start since the end of January.

Click here for a 2011 preview of Harrington
 


NEW BREED
AGE: 26
YEARS ON TOUR: He is in his fourth full season on the PGA TOUR.
OVERVIEW: The big-hitting Johnson is one of the game's rising young stars. He has won four times already -- more tournaments than any other player in his 20s. And Johnson had two legitimate chances to win majors last year, although both ended in disappointment. The first was at the U.S. Open on the same Pebble Beach course he will play this week. Johnson took a three-stroke lead into the final round but saw it evaporate by the time he played the fourth hole after a triple bogey-bogey-bogey performance on the way to an 82. But Johnson is nothing if not resilient. He put himself in position again at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits but missed out on the playoff between Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson when he was found to have grounded his club in an ill-defined bunker on the 72nd hole. Four weeks later, Johnson won the BMW Championship, the third event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
HISTORY IN THIS EVENT: He's already successfully defended his title once at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Johnson looks to make it three in a row this week. If he wins his third, he would join Mark O'Meara, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Phil Mickelson with three or more wins on the scenic layout. Of course, he has a long way to catch O'Meara, who has five titles on the Monterey Peninsula.
OUTLOOK THIS WEEK: The lanky South Carolinian is playing in his fourth event of 2011. He tied for ninth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and third at the Farmers Insurance Open on the strength of a closing 66. He couldn't get untracked in the stop-start Waste Management Phoenix Open but it's likely Pebble Beach can change that quickly.

Click here for a 2011 preview of Johnson
Tee times
First-round tee times for Harrington, Johnson
Padraig Harrington
Will be playing with Steve Marino and two amateurs and teeing off from the 10th tee of Spyglass Hill GC at 11:44 a.m. ET in Thursday's first round.
Dustin Johnson
Will be playing with Pat Perez and two amateurs and teeing off from the 1st tee of Monterey Peninsula CC at 1:01 p.m. ET in Thursday's first round.
Establishment vs. New Breed: 2011 results
Here are the results of the previous matchups this year
  ESTABLISHMENT Score/Finish Tournament NEW BREED Score/Finish  
Steve Stricker 20 under (T-4th) Hyundai TOC Dustin Johnson 14 under (T-9th)  
Ernie Els 4 under (T-42nd) Sony Open Jason Day 8 under (T-20th)
Stewart Cink 5 under (MC) Bob Hope Classic Bubba Watson 7 under (MC)
Davis Love III 5 over (MC) Farmers Insurance Open Rickie Fowler 5 under (T20)
Angel Cabrera 7 under (T-49th) Waste Management Phoenix Open Jhonattan Vegas 2 under (MC)  
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