Harrington moves to sixth in rankings

PADRAIG HARRINGTON arrived in Korea yesterday to receive some very good news.

He has moved up two places in the world rankings from 8th to 6th ahead of Jim Furyk and Davis Love III. This equals the Irishman’s best position and is its own tribute to the quality and consistency of his golf over the past several years.

Wins aren’t all that frequent for the 33-year-old Dubliner, his only one so far this year coming in the German Masters, but runners-up and regular top ten spots are worth a whole lot of points and that’s one good reason why he has reached such an eminent position in the game.

What he really needs to cap it all is a victory in a major championship and he is clearly confident that he can achieve that ultimate objective, provided he maintains his current gradual level of improvement. He certainly produced some wonderful shotmaking in the World Cup in Seville over the weekend when he and Paul McGinley played out of their skins for the most part and finished 28 under par, yet three behind winners England.

Golf being the kind of game it is, no matter how well the Irish duo performed, there was no way they could influence what Paul Casey and Luke Donald were doing.

“I’ve got plenty to work on and lots of things to improve, so I’m very happy at where I’m going,” said Harrington. “Korea this week should be great. It’s a 36-strong field for a million-dollar first place and a four million prize fund. A good event to go to.”