“The other half of the draw is getting time to hit balls,” said Ernie Els. He was not pleased with the treatment he and some of his peers received in the second round. The South African legend didn’t shy away from speaking his mind after the USGA tried to push them to start the round quickly after a long weather delay. But one of his peers from “the other half,” Padraig Harrington, had nothing but positives to say about the way the Senior major event was organized on Saturday.

In a post-round interview, the Irishman was asked, “When you hit that shot on 18 and the crowd just erupted like that, what was that moment like to see everyone’s reaction?” He had scored a birdie on the closing hole and received a loud reaction from the ropeside for his excellent stroke. Harrington was surprised by the reaction he received as he said, “The whole of this event, they run a really good event, the USGA. They run a really good Senior major, and the crowds that have turned out are just excellent. The fields, there’s a buzz out there, there’s a great atmosphere.”

The 3-time major winner seems to be thriving under the USGA setup for the 2025 U.S. Senior Open. However, his response might be a bit surprising considering only 24 hours ago, he was seen arguing with former PGA Tour pro-turned-NBC analyst, Roger Maltbie. The two locked horns on the Friday of the major when the reporter didn’t assist in finding a ball that swung away from the short grass. In a heated confrontation, Harrington stated that he expected Maltbie to look for the ball as it dropped.

He told the reporter, “You’ve played golf all your life. You understand.” The analyst bluntly replied, “I’m not a player,” which ticked the Senior Tour player off even more. They had to be separated by the Irishman’s caddie as the crowd gathered around them. Well, Padraig seems to be in a great mood now after he scored that birdie in the third round. Adding more context to the query, he mentioned, “It was special to hole out on the 18th, as I said, with everybody watching, the anticipation. It was very exciting and very nice that I didn’t have to hit another shot,” before erupting into laughter.

To be fair, the birdie was quite extraordinary. After missing the fairway from the tee on the 429-yard par-4, Harrington landed his second stroke about 60 feet from the cup on the fairway. He used a wedge to chip the ball onto the green, which coincidentally also rolled into the hole for a birdie. Prior to that, the 53-year-old had managed to score 4-under 32 in the front 9. However, a double bogey on the 12th and a bogey on the 15th pushed his score for the day back to -1. The last hole birdie helped him tie the lead with his co-leaders from Friday, Stewart Cink and Mark Hensby.

Unfortunately, Ernie Els didn’t have a delightful experience like Padraig Harrington. While the Irishman was thriving at the Broadmoor, the South African was appalled by the treatment he and his peers were receiving.

Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington have contrasting experiences with the USGA

The second round of the 2025 U.S. Senior Open was disrupted due to rain. One of the players whose round came to a halt because of the weather was Ernie Els. Having been in the circuit for more than 35 years, the veteran golfer was used to such issues. However, what happened after the rain stopped was what surprised him more. As he mentioned in the post-round interview, “They took us off the course for an hour and then gave us a text message to be in position in seven minutes.”

Presumably in an attempt to finish the round early, the USGA tried to rush the veteran golfers back onto the course. That didn’t particularly sit well with Els. Speaking about the unfair treatment, he added, “The other half of the draw is getting time to hit balls. So put that in the equation. It was a little weird. It cost Retief, playing the last hole dead cold. We weren’t in any rhythm.”

Ernie Els was going strong in the front 9 of the second round, but scored two bogeys in the back 9 to score just 1-under 69. It’s hard to judge how much of it could be blamed on the USGA, as the legend faced the same issue in the back 9 of the third round.