Pádraig fades as Rory’s rise goes on

As Rory McIlroy became golf’snumber one-ranked player,three-time major champion Pádraig Harrington slipped out of West Palm Beach almost unnoticed on his way back home to Ireland.

While McIlroy captured the Honda Classic with a 12 under par total to secure the global top spot, Harrington finished 71st of the 76 qualifiers, needing to birdie on the 18th to break 80 in his final round. He has dropped two more places in the rankings to 89th and inevitably, we are left to wonder where the respective careers of the two talents go from here.

McIlroy’s path to glory seems paved with gold. Only Tiger Woods attained the number one spot at a younger age and even if Rory (22) never goes on to emulate or surpass the achievements of the American, he will surely enjoy a wonderfully successful golfing career.