‘No pressure’ on Pádraig to deliver

AT much the same time as Colin Montgomerie was announcing Pádraig Harrington as one of his Ryder Cup wild card choices on Sunday, the Irishman was sitting promisingly among the top 10 in the Barclays Championship in New Jersey.

However, he subsequently slumped from six to one under par to finish back in a share of 47th and give additional ammunition to the critics, mainly UK-based supporters of Paul Casey and Justin Rose, that Harrington was a lucky man to get the call for Celtic Manor. On the face of it, all the more so after his fall from grace in the Barclays, it is not difficult to understand that point of view.

Furthermore, it surely imposes considerable pressure on the Irishman to deliver the goods at Celtic Manor in just under five weeks time. I put that point to Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke, two of the European vice captains, and yet they didn’t see things in that light at all.