Harrington the favourite as world’s top 60 desert Qatar
But the Irishman, not put off from playing despite so many of his European tour colleagues flying home from the Middle East with war looming, sounded a note of caution.
"My main battle is always with myself, not with whoever else is playing," he said, focusing his attentions on the matter in hand rather than the worrying political situation.
Like the other 149 players taking part replacements have been found for all 50 pull-outs the world number 10 can only get on with his career while everyone waits to see what action is taken against Iraq, whose border lies some 600 miles north of Doha Golf Club.
In the past two weeks Harrington has gone out in the second round of the Accenture World Matchplay Championship in California and finished a lowly 47th at the Dubai Desert Classic.
That event saw world number 593 Robert-Jan Derksen beat world number two Ernie Els to the title conclusive proof that on this circuit at least there is no such thing as a sure-fire winner.
The next highest-ranked player in the weakened field is Denmark's Anders Hansen, whose 64th position owes much to him winning the Volvo PGA championship out of the blue last May.
After that it is 45-year-old Ian Woosnam joint third on Sunday, but without a stroke-play title since 1997 at 85th, and then another Dane, Irish Open champion Soren Hansen, at 95th.
The withdrawals have brought in so many relative unknowns that one experienced player said today: "I'm afraid to talk to anyone in case I ask them who they are caddying for and they tell me they're playing."
Harrington knows one of the new faces, though. Fellow Dubliner Stephen Browne, European amateur champion two years ago, was called up on Tuesday after finishing 48th in the Zambia Open at the weekend.
That placing earned the 29-year-old £284. Now he is competing for a first prize of £156,055.
That size cheque will not unnerve Harrington. Three months ago he was picking up a million dollars for beating Tiger Woods in the world number one's own Target World Challenge tournament in California.
With more duels against Woods hopefully fast approaching first the Players Championship in two weeks' time, then the Masters at Augusta Harrington said that he now feels much closer to his best.
"The facilities here and in Dubai are second to none and whatever happens here the work I'm putting in will be beneficial," he said.
"But I'd love to see my coach (Bob Torrance) for a couple of days because I'm trying to figure out which of about four swing thoughts is the right one. And every minute I'm adding to the list."
Harrington writes down detailed notes of every performance he gives how he is thinking, how he is swinging, what is good, what is bad, and he also does his own statistical breakdown rather than just rely on the tour-produced ones.
"On Sunday, for example, the official stats had me down for 26 putts in my 71. But I actually used my putter 31 times. My swing was wooden and I was struggling with the mental game.
"But you can really only judge the mental side when you are playing well. Obviously I want to be in contention this week and a weaker field does allow you to finish higher up, but I guarantee that the winner will be the one who has played the best golf and you can never be sure who that is going to be."
Woosnam, who does not play again after this week until the Masters, was runner-up three years ago to Muntz, Holland's only winner on the tour until Derksen.
* Below par McGinley pulls out of pro-am
RYDER CUP hero Paul McGinley, diagnosed with pneumonia at the start of the week, had to stop after nine holes of the pro-am on the eve of the Qatar Masters in red-hot Doha yesterday.
In furnace-like conditions, McGinley, one of the few stars left in a tournament hit by 50 withdrawals, started feeling unwell again.
He is on a course of antibiotics and still confident of playing in the £936,000 event today.
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