Pádraig gets that sinking feeling
As a consequence he has fallen out of the world’s top 10 having been third following his victory in the USPGA Championship at Oakland Hills last August.
This latest disappointment was particularly acute given the US Open starts at Bethpage Park, New York, on Thursday week and Harrington may be fatally short of a real competitive edge going into the second major championship of the year. His confidence certainly needs a boost and dropping to 11th in the rankings cannot help in that regard.
However, that could all change should he figure prominently in this week’s St Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee. He tied for fourth last year, shooting rounds of 66 and 68 over the weekend having started 71, 72 and a solid, four-round performance is absolutely essential if he is to be anyway ready for Bethpage.
Graeme McDowell makes for more Irish interest at Memphis in a tournament that also sees the return of Phil Mickelson, who took a few weeks off to be with his wife Amy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Other notables in a low-key field are Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson. It certainly is a stark sign of the recessionary times that there is no event on the European Tour this week.
One might have considered June 11-14 as very lucrative date but as the sponsors dwindle away and prize funds are cut to keep the show on the road, dates also have to be shuffled. And so the Austrian Open, which was to have started at the Fontana club in Vienna on Thursday, has been rescheduled for September 17-20, the slot originally allocated to the British Masters.
However, that tournament, once one of the most prestigious on Tour, has fallen by the wayside, having been supported for the last three years by Quinn Direct at The Belfry, a venue also owned by the insurance company’s chief Sean Quinn.
All of which means that fans of the European Tour must instead look for their entertainment this week to the Seniors Tour, which moves from Ballybunion to another fine links, La Moye in Jersey, and the Challenge Tour, which stages the Challenge of Ireland at the Darren Clarke-designed Moy Valley course in Co Meath.
It’s fair to say that when compared with the Champions Tour in the US, the European Seniors circuit has a long road to travel, not least in the area of prize money and public interest. Bernhard Langer picked up $240,000 for his victory in the Triton Classic in Texas on Sunday as against the €52,500 Ian Woosnam received for his AIB Irish Open triumph.
And with money so scarce, it is difficult to see how the situation can be improved and indeed the European Tour is actually doing well to maintain a fairly regular schedule of events.
Whereas thousands of people invariably line the fairways and surround the greens at most events in America, the numbers here are meagre in comparison although the 700 or so who watched the Woosnam-Bob Boyd play-off on Sunday thoroughly enjoyed the drama and created a very worthy atmosphere.
It is good for the European circuit that Woosnam and Sam Torrance, two former Ryder Cup-winning captains, should be regular competitors on the circuit but the great pity is that major champions of the recent past such as Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros are no longer competitive, Sandy Lyle only plays when the mood is on him and Langer plies his trade in the US.
The future of the Irish Seniors Open is probably in the balance right now. AIB and Fáilte Ireland have been loyal supporters since its inception in 1997 and it is hoped they will hang in there. Ballybunion proved the ideal venue for the championship and the club may well decide to host it again.
The Challenge Tour has done great things for young professionals and their slightly older brethren when it comes to establishing a foothold on the main circuit. Ireland has been playing its part since 2005 at Killarney where the Scot Marc Warren came out on top and went on to win the World Cup a couple of years later with Colin Montgomerie and he is now a fixture on the European Tour.
An Irishman has yet to capture the title and 21 home players will be in action in the Challenge of Ireland at Moy Valley this week.
They include former Ryder Cup hero Philip Walton, now 47, doubtless with one eye on the Seniors Tour in three years time, and David Higgins, now back to full fitness after tackling a debilitating virus for six months or so.
The remainder are from a younger generation, prominent amateurs from the recent past like Paul O’Hanlon, Cian McNamara, Gareth Shaw, Noel Fox and Michael McGeady along with Colm Moriarty, Peter O’Keeffe, Niall Turner, Tim Rice and Mark Murphy.
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