Things are looking up for patient Pádraig

EVEN though he never figured close to the leaderboard in the WGC-NEC Championship at the weekend, Pádraig Harrington says he feels a whole lot better about his game after a couple of weeks in the US.

He is now in Munich preparing for the BMW International on Thursday, over the Nord-Eichenried course of which he has happy memories, having clinched his Ryder Cup debut there in 1999. Unfortunately, he goes into the event having slipped three places in the world rankings, 8th to 11th, the result of a period of inactivity after the death of his father followed by poor performances in the USPGA and the NEC.

"At some stage of the NEC, I did just about the right things so I'm a lot more upbeat about my game," said Harrington, who tied for 24th in that tournament and picked up €55,519.