Pádraig ready to rewrite fiction

PÁDRAIG Harrington is set to make Masters history here today. He tied with David Toms for the Par 3 title in 2003 and won it outright after a play-off against Eduardo Romero last year.

Now he is intent on becoming the first man to complete a hat-trick of victories in the 'short course' event since it was instituted in 1960.

If that seems a rather foolhardy ambition given that the winner of the Par 3 has never gone on to capture the Masters itself, try telling that to Harrington who dismissed such talk as "baloney".

"How could winning a tournament on a Wednesday affect how you play on a Thursday? That's rubbish and of course I'd love to be the guy who proves the point."

It's easy to see how Harrington has become a great favourite of the media, not just in the States but worldwide.

Whereas many of his peers provide banal, monosyllabic answers, Harrington opens his heart, no matter how probing or sensitive the point at issue.

Yesterday he recalled meeting the legendary Sam Snead within minutes of arriving at the course on his first visit to Augusta in 2000.

Snead was chatting to a few members of the GUI at the time and they introduced him to Harrington. Pressed for the identity of the GUI President at the time, he quipped: "Paddy Murphy, not a particularly Irish name."

As to how the conversation went between himself and Slammin' Sam, he said: "I didn't have to understand a word he was saying. I was too awestruck. But for a person like myself who is normally running around like a headless chicken, that was the one bit of quiet in all of the madness going on in my head. I was just sitting there and enjoying a special moment."

Harrington has been working with his mental coach Dr Bob Rotella after arriving on Sunday.

"If I told you what he does, you might say, 'I could have told you that'," he admitted.

"Some of the stuff these sports psychologists tell you is so ordinary and mundane and there is nothing Bob Rotella could tell me that I didn't already know. He's just reminding me, encouraging me and keeping me going down the right lines. It's not rocket science. He doesn't have any tricks. I wish he hypnotised me on Thursday.

"He puts the emphasis on you to do the work. You never feel dependent. You discuss what you want to do and it's up to you to do it. He's not like a school teacher. It's your responsibility and I like that. I play a lot of tournaments around the world and if he's not there, I don't feel like I can't do what I should be doing that week. He's given me the tools to work on my own.

"He has played a very significant role in my career."

Harrington was happy to report that his father, Paddy, has made a great improvement over the past week or so, is home from hospital and looking and feeling a lot better. He's satisfied that he won't allow his dad's illness to affect his concentration this week.

However, he admitted: "It could be a problem emotionally if I do happen to get into contention with a few holes to play."

Rotella has a role to play in this respect and told Harrington: "If that's the biggest problem we're going to have this week, we're not going to worry too much about it."

Harrington added: "We'll wait and see how I handle it if I do get into that situation."

That may come to pass should he get off to the same flying start as in 2002, when he cruised to six under par after 11 holes to go three clear of the field. He struggled from there and signed for a 69 on the way to an eventual share of fifth place, his best finish in the Masters.

Oddly enough, he doesn't recall any of the great shots he hit over those 11 holes but insists he can recall many of the bad shots that others have had around Amen Corner.

"I can also remember the bad shots that other people have hit," he said.

"That's one thing about Augusta, you carry the baggage of all the other players out there. Who can forget Seve's four-iron in the water on 15 in 1986? So you're standing there on Sunday with a four-iron off a down-slope and what's the first thing that comes into your mind? Then there was Fred Couples on 12. That would be the overriding thought."

On the difference at Augusta, he mused: "You're used to the ball bouncing and stopping but because the slopes are so subtle, the ball is moving 15 feet on. So it is going to be really difficult if the greens stay as they are. It's as tough as I've seen it for the approach shots. It will require players of a higher standard and will narrow the potential winners."

Harrington remains sixth in the world rankings behind the so-called 'Fab Five' of Singh, Woods, Mickelson, Els and Goosen, but has no intention of worrying about them.

"I've got to do my own thing. You don't put them up on a pedestal or hope they do badly. That's not going to work. But this course does suit them; this is the course for them."