Harrington can't wait to let it rip in Malaysia happy hunting ground
He plays his first tournament of 2004 in Malaysia this week. Winning a first European order of merit title is one of the goals he has set in a year he is approaching with his confidence very much on a high and without the distractions that cost him considerable momentum last season.
Instead of the anxiety associated with the arrival of your first born, Padraig is now revelling in the company of young Patrick, already a globetrotter at the grand old age of five months, and all set for what the golfing season holds.
"Your confidence levels are always up after the winter break," he says. "You think every little change you make in your swing will make the big difference. When you've done this amount of work, you want to test it out in the real competition.
"Malaysia has been a happy hunting ground for me. I've lost in a play-off there, finished in the top five a couple of times, I like the golf course, I like the place, so I'm going in with plenty of confidence."
Ask Harrington about his goals for the season and he just smiles coyly and replies: "I keep those to myself although it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure them out. I just have to keep motivated throughout the year. There are five stages when I need to peak, the four majors and the Ryder Cup, probably after that the Irish Open. But I'm not so good that I can say when I will play well."
Although he has drifted out to 11th because of his inactivity over the past couple of months, it is a source of considerable satisfaction to Harrington that he has held a top 10 ranking in the world for the past four years.
It is a remarkable achievement and one not always appreciated by his countrymen who perhaps expect a little too much from a man battling it out in one of the most competitive of all sporting arenas. To be fair, Padraig himself understands their impatience and, if anything, is taking sides with them!
"I'd want to be getting a move on and really competing in the major championships," he accepts. "They are important. But you could have a great year and still not win a major. The Masters is eight weeks away. I'll have five warm-up events, three in the States, before Augusta. It should be enough. It's interesting that the other three are on links style courses, obviously Troon for the British but also Shinnecock Hills for the US and Kohler for the US PGA. I've always said that links style golf is my best chance although it's not my favourite golf, my favourite golf would be Augusta, I like the manicured, tree-lined fairways, the enclosed space.
"Links is much more open, more rugged. I've been brought up playing that way and after the Masters, I'll have to be sure to practice my wind shots."
Few sportsmen are as hell-bent on maximising their potential as Harrington. You sense that he won't be happy no matter how high up he moves in the world rankings and there isn't an aspect of his preparation that he doesn't consider.
He hardly left his new home in south Co Dublin over his winter break because it is surrounded by a state-of-the-art mini golf course and the house contains a swing room and gymnasium. He is also very aware that he won't get to the top unless he has the best possible advisers to guide him.
"I always surround myself with the best help," he says. "I have a large group in the background, my swing coach Bob Torrance; sports psychologist Bob Rotella; fitness guys, one here in Ireland and another who travels with me on tour.
"You need all that support to get to where you want to go. Where I end up, I don't know. I would never predict that I would get to number five in the world, number one in the world, whatever.
"So long as I get as far as I believe I was ever capable of, but I can only judge that when I finish.
"I've been to number six, I could get to five and that would be an achievement. Or I could get to three and have nothing left in the tank and that would be a failure. So there's no point in setting a goal in that area, you could underestimate or overestimate what you want so you've got to go with the flow on that."
He makes no secret of the importance of the world rankings. He is currently 11th and when he resumes this week, he stresses that it will be those ahead of him rather than those looming immediately behind that he will be concentrating on.
"It's always easier to have somebody ahead of you, somebody to chase down," he maintains. "No doubt the guys behind are chasing me. I've had a good, friendly rivalry with fellas like Michael Campbell and Thomas Bjorn over the years. It's good when they're pushing me.
"Thomas nearly won the Open last year and he was only one out of the play-off in the States at the weekend.
"That's good motivation because there's a friend of yours whose game you know and that tells you that you can do it too. It's a good spark that Darren [Clarke] is right behind me, it's the kind of thing that keeps you pushing.
"But I'll also look at the guys ahead of me and try to run them down. That's the nature of the world."
