‘Tiger deserves to be lionised’

Charlie Mulqueen

At the end of proceedings today, Harmon and his brothers Dick, Bill and Craig will choose two Irish juniors to go on a week’s free tuition at the Dick Harmon School of Golf in Houston, Texas, next autumn.

Harmon has been one of the world’s leading coaches for 20 years or so, but is best known for his years with Woods.

“I brought two guys to number one in the world and both fired me,” he jokes.

“I don’t feel badly about the break-up with Tiger, instead I look at the 10 years we had together. We had a wonderful run, his record was phenomenal for those years both as an amateur and professional. In life, everyone moves on, coaches of great football teams and rugby teams aren’t the same forever.

“At the time he just wanted to go in a different direction. I’m just one of those old school guys who believes that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We really didn’t do a whole lot for the last few years except to maintain it to make sure everything was right whereas he always wanted new stuff, to change things, and I didn’t think he should change. He’s made a drastic change now and only time will tell if it’s right or not. But I had 10 fantastic years. I saw the greatest golf I’ve ever seen in my life.

“I’m 51 years old. I’ve literally seen every great player, with the exception of Bobby Jones, in my lifetime and I’ve never seen anything like Tiger Woods. It was a great ride, let me put it to you that way.”

As for the kinds of incidents which have dogged Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Martin, Harmon is pragmatic.

“Our game is based on honesty and integrity and you hate to think of anyone intentionally breaking the rules,” he says.

“I haven’t seen the Monty incident so it’s hard for me to comment while Martin has had a lot of different situations through the years. It really is too bad. Everyone is playing the same game under the same rules and the same conditions. I don’t know if there are implications for the game

because these are very small incidents but I think it’s a very bad situation for the individuals.

“Let me say this of Colin, I’m a big fan and I can’t imagine him ever doing anything intentionally wrong. I’m sad for him although the other side is the players don’t want to let it go and that means there must be something there.”

Harmon sees Tiger as favourite for the British Open at St Andrews next month.

“The British is a given, I think Tiger will win it easily,” he says.

“Tiger is struggling with his driving accuracy which you don’t really need at St Andrews. You can drive it down the left side of most of the holes and hit the hell out of the ball which he’ll do. His imagination and creativity will do the rest.

“I think Pádraig Harrington has what it takes to win a US Open. I’m of the belief that to win a US Open, you have to have a lot of patience. Pádraig has that. I think he’s the most improved player in the game. He has enormous imagination and creativity around the greens and has all the shots required to play Pinehurst.

“If he can let himself play, if he shows his normal patience, I feel he has a great chance. One of the strengths Pádraig Harrington has is that he plays Pádraig Harrington golf. He knows what he can and can’t do.”

Harmon has been closely identified with Darren Clarke as both coach and friend, but he’s so upset about the health of Darren’s wife Heather.

He says: “It’s too hard to talk about. Darren is one of the best players in the world. Here’s the difference between Pádraig and Darren. Darren has much more talent that Pádraig; Pádraig has a lot more patience than Darren.

“If Darren had Pádraig’s patience, he’d probably be in the top three in the world. When things start going badly, Darren rushes, you can see it in the way he walks down the fairway, how fast he goes. He’s working hard at it and it’s something he has to change to become a better player.”