‘If I had a fiver for every time…’
Higgins defied the odds and won each time. Whereas Harrington was already an established star in the amateur game and would make his third appearance in the successful British & Irish Walker Cup team at Porthcawl 12 months later, his opponent was only emerging from the shadows at the time.
However, those outstanding victories seemed to suggest that Higgins and Harrington would arrive on the professional first tee on similar terms. They duly came through the 1995 European Tour School and for a time, their twin-track progress to stardom was straight and true. What has unfolded since, however, totally disregards their potential at the time Harrington is the seventh-ranked player in the world and a multi millionaire. Higgins, however, is still struggling to even find a regular niche on the European circuit. Just how has that situation come to pass...
