Master takes on young pretender

THE master will meet the young pretender today when triple major champion Pádraig Harrington takes on young gun Rory McIlroy in the Lough Erne Challenge.

But there will be more at stake than winning the lion’s share of the $300,000 (€211,000) prize fund on offer at the “Duel on the Lough” – a made-for-TV showdown to mark the official opening of the Nick Faldo-designed course near Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh. Pride and bragging rights will be incentive enough.

Less than 12 months ago, Harrington was ranked third in the world following his third major championship victory at Oakland Hills as McIlroy was battling to emerge from the first big confidence crisis of his fledgling professional career.

Since then, they have swapped roles with Harrington suffering the biggest results slump of his 14-year professional career while McIlroy edges ever closer to the world’s elite.

While the Dubliner has missed eight cuts in 2009 and slumped to 16th in the world rankings, McIlroy has become a European Tour winner and a golfing icon in the US.

McIlroy and Harrington have yet to clash on tour but enjoyed some banter during a nine-hole practice round at last November’s Barclays Singapore Open, where the youngster missed a putt on the last to take the money.

“Just to see what Pádraig’s done has been an inspiration,” the world No 26 said.

Harrington will be making his first professional appearance in Northern Ireland. “It’s nice for me to be going back up there as a pro – the tough part is I’m playing Rory,” Harrington said. “When we played nine holes in Singapore, Rory’s caddie JP Fitzgerald was baiting him to hit it 20 yards past me at will. It was a more pleasurable experience for JP than it was for me, let’s say.”

“What most people don’t see is the effort Rory’s putting into the weaker parts of his game because he knows this will bring him to the very top.”

The pair will arrive at Lough Erne by seaplane for an all-ticket showdown in front of 4,000 fans. The match will also feature a special event on the par-three fifth, where each player will have six attempts to make a hole-in-one and earn $1 million (€700,000) for a Fermanagh charity.

* Niall Kearney spearheaded the Irish challenge in the South of England Open Amateur Championship first round at Walton Heath in Surrey yesterday. The 24-year-old from Royal Dublin was one of only five players who broke the par of 72 on the Old course and is in an excellent position today to pile the pressure on his rivals as he moves to the New Course. Kearney fired a 70, a stroke behind leader Stiggy Hodgson.