Win elusive but Harrington a model of consistency
In that time, he has finished third (with Paul McGinley) in the World Cup in Spain, top 10 in the Korean Open, second in the Hong Kong Open and second at the weekend in the Target World Challenge in California.
People may harp on about the fact that he didn’t win any of those tournaments, but closer perusal of his scoring average should convince even the most sceptical that Harrington has been playing majestic golf. Indeed, his failure to capture any of these titles was due more to the exceptional quality golf of the opposition than any shortcomings on his own part.
Take the Hong Kong and Target Challenge events as examples.
In the former, Harrington shot rounds of 65, 68, 67 and 67 for 13 under par - and still finished a shot behind Miguel-Angel Jimenez.
In California, he compiled scores of 68, 69, 67 and 66 for 14 under - and this time Tiger Woods came home two strokes lower. He has now been first, third and second in successive years in Tiger’s tournament, a remarkable display of consistency against the finest players in the world.
This was the 26th runner-up spot of Padraig’s career and one that will disappoint him more than most.
That closing 66 should, in fact, have been even better for he reached the turn in a spectacular five under par 31 and picked up two more birdies on the way home. But he also carded bogeys at the long 16th when, with the green very much in his sights, he pushed his three wood into a virtually unplayable lie and in the end did well to escape with a six.
After leaving his tee shot to the short 17th stone dead for a two, a hooked wood tee proved his undoing at the last and again he had to get up and down just to make bogey.
“I needed to produce something over the last couple of holes but it didn’t happen for me,” said Harrington.
“I really like the Sherwood course, it gives you a lot of birdie opportunities, a number of which I took over the four days. I am confident where I am going with my game and pleased to see how the Europeans are improving all the time.”
Harrington has now shot eight successive competitive rounds under 70, a remarkable achievement by any standards. The point is certainly not lost on Tiger Woods, who praised the Irishman at the weekend.
“He will be a great addition to the US Tour,” he said at the outset as Harrington confirmed that he will play six or seven times more in the States in 2005 than this year.
Woods admitted: “I figured Monty [Colin Montgomerie] and Jay [Haas] were going to do something but I didn’t think Harrington was going to shoot 31 on the front nine. I had to keep pace. It was a good test under pressure.”
Harrington arrived back in Dublin yesterday after four globetrotting weeks during which he improved his bank balance by close to €1 million and clinched sixth place in the world rankings. He received $750,000 for runner-up spot at the Target Challenge, but ruefully said: “A win would have really made my Christmas.”
He now takes nine weeks off from the competitive scene, planning to make his return in Malaysia on February 17, before taking in the Accenture World Match Play the following week. After that he will play exclusively in the States in the hope of being fully tuned up for the Masters at Augusta on April 7-10. In the meantime, he will be kept busy with the launch of the Padraig Harrington Charitable Foundation at City West tomorrow, followed by an appearance on the Late Late Show on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Woods could hardly be happier with his finish to a season that had earlier fallen short of expectations. Victory in Japan was followed by success in his own Target Challenge. Afterwards, he departed from his usual practice of keeping his private life just that by admitting that he was looking forward to starting a family with his new wife Elin, especially because, “I had no siblings of my own”.
In a strictly golfing sense, he acknowledged: “Things I’ve been working on are finally coming together. I’ve had to take baby steps all year. I was working in the right direction. Sometimes it was three or four holes that I played well and the rest was not so good; eventually it became 18 holes, then 36, then 54 and now a whole tournament and that’s exciting.”
The European Tour now closes down for the best part of a month with three tournaments already decided on the 2005 circuit. Padraig Harrington is seventh in the money list with 52,287 points. Damien McGrane is 13th with 30,703 and Peter Lawrie 27th on 14,818.
McGrane, who is a “freelance” having quit his job as club pro at Wexford, turned in four fine rounds in the Dunhill championship at the weekend to tie for eighth place and pick up €16,254. He was followed home by Lawrie, 34th for €5,457, and newcomer Stephen Browne, 39th for €4,268.
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