Butch backs Pádraig for glory

DARREN CLARKE out because of his wife’s ongoing battle against cancer, Pádraig Harrington under something of a cloud, also because of the serious illness of his father and coming off the back of missing the cut in the Booz Allen Classic at the weekend.

It hardly paints a pretty picture for the Irish going into the US Open starting at Pinehurst, North Carolina, on Thursday.

However, it says something about the strength of the game in this country at the moment that we have two other fine golfers, Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell, in the field for America's greatest tournament.

Before Clarke's defection, we had four confirmed entrants, something that would have been unheard of in the recent past. However, since the enlightened decision of the USGA to accommodate the top 50 players in the world rankings and also hold qualifiers in Japan and England, the prospects for international players have increased enormously. For instance, who would have foreseen the appearance of journeymen like Jonathan Lomas, Simon Dyson, Peter Hedblom and Soren Kjeldsen, to name but a few, in a US Open field without the qualifier at Walton Heath last week.

The Irish trio are there strictly on the world rankings and nobody can doubt their credentials. Harrington plays his eighth US Open since 1997 and has a decent enough record. He finished 5th at Pebble Beach in 2000 and figured in the top 10 again at Bethpage in 2002 and in Chicago two years ago. On the other hand, he is the first to point out that he was never in contention to actually win on any of those occasions.

"He is one of the game's most improved players and has the game to win at Pinehurst," insists top coach Butch Harmon. "The great thing about Pádraig Harrington is Pádraig Harrington himself. He has infinite patience and I'm sure he won't get in his own way."

The return of Paul McGinley to US Open action is to be warmly welcomed. While we have already praised the USGA for creating the opportunity for so many internationals to take part, they might well have gone a step further and invited the current Ryder Cup players just as the R&A have done for next month's British Open.

This meant that McGinley had to fight his way into the Championship through finishing 2nd in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on the last qualifying weekend.

Just as he had battled manfully to get into the Ryder Cup team from a seemingly hopeless position in 2004, McGinley came up with the wherewithal when the pressure was greatest. Now it remains to be seen if he can capitalise on that wonderful achievement and to do so will mean stepping up appreciably on his previous appearances in the championship having missed the cut in 1997 and 2000. However, he did finish 6th in the USPGA last August.

Graeme McDowell, at 25, is the least experienced of the Irish contingent but I wouldn't fear for him on that account. True, he has missed the cut in his three major appearances to date.

Still, I suspect he's well equipped to learn from those failures.

You must go back to Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine in 1970 for the most recent European champion and in the intervening 35 years there haven't been all that many near misses. Colin Montgomerie lost in a play-off to Ernie Els at Oakmont in 1993 and Nick Faldo to Curtis Strange, also in extra time, at Brookline in 1988 but otherwise the Euros haven't had a serious look-in. Sergio Garcia's victory in Washington on Sunday augurs well but the Spaniard also won on the eve of the US Open last year and figured prominently for three rounds at Shinnecock Hills only to shoot 80 on the last day.

There are 23 Europeans in this week's field, including 11 of the 12 current Ryder Cup players, Lee Westwood, Thomas Levet, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Colin Montgomerie, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, Pádraig Harrington, David Howell and Paul McGinley as well as the captain Bernard Langer and one of his lieutenants, Thomas Bjorn. Four Swedes, Peter Hanson, Carl Pettersson, Robert Karlsson and Peter Hedblom have qualified as have Jonathan Lomas, Graeme McDowell, Simon Dyson, Nick Dougherty, Soren Kjeldsen and Stephen Gallacher.

If the Americans are to be foiled, the greater likelihood is that the people most likely to do so are the South Africans Retief Goosen, the current holder, and Ernie Els, and Fiji's Vijay Singh.

The 105th US Open takes place over the Donald Ross-designed, 7,214 yards, par 70, number two course at Pinehurst. It is one of nine courses at this golfing haven and last staged the championship in 1999.