Learning to play the mental game

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON claims he doesn’t read the newspapers. So when I put it to him last night that more and more pressmen were writing that he was about to join the likes of Phil Mickelson as “one of the best players in golf not to have won a major”, he said he was unaware of any such speculation.

True to form, though, he was quick to turn the question to his own benefit.

"It's a big compliment and I'm very happy to be compared with the likes of Phil Mickelson," he declared with a broad smile. "For people to say I should have won a major by now or that I should go and win one in the future, that's a big compliment. I've come a long way for somebody to be saying that.