Harrington hopes to rekindle major flame

IT says a lot for the strength of the game in Ireland that we have four players involved in the US Open starting at Bethpage Park this morning.

Normally, Pádraig Harrington would stand out as our greatest hope of capturing the trophy but for very apparent reasons that is not currently the case. Indeed, the bookmakers rate 20 year-old Rory McIlroy a more likely prospect, 35-1 as against Harrington’s 40-1, with Graeme McDowell, 80-1, and Darren Clarke, 225-1, regarded as each-way bets at best.

The year so far has been a disaster for Harrington, a man who was master of all he surveyed after landing his third major championship in 13 months last August. At that point, he was ranked number three in the world and everybody looked excitedly to the Masters the following Augusta as he attempted to complete what the Americans dubbed a “Paddy Slam”.