Harrington’s status seeds Ireland third in World Cup

THANKS to Pádraig Harrington’s status as the 9th ranked golfer in the world when the draw was made, Ireland have been seeded third in the World Cup of Golf to be played at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on December 10-15.

Had the organisers waited until after Harrington’s victory in the Dunhill Links Championship at the weekend, they would have been in second spot with the Dubliner having improved three places to sixth, and so ahead of Fiji’s Vijay Singh.

The $3.5m World Cup was won by Harrington and Paul McGinley at Kiawah Island in 1997 and this is the sixth successive time that they have formed the Irish partnership. Prior to this year, the best placed available player on the world rankings filled the number one spot and the second man was chosen from his own tour’s order of merit.