Harrington sets sights on adding to Majors tally

Success hasn’t changed Pádraig Harrington as a person but it has transformed him as a player.

There was a time when the Dubliner was a low scoring terror in run-of-the-mill tour events, regularly smashing the 20-under-par mark with a display of attacking golf.

Now 40, Harrington is built for comfort rather than speed and as he entered last night’s final round of the US Open six shots behind pace-setters Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk, he was searching for his old killer instinct with the pitch and putt clubs.

Since he won his third major in the space of 13 months nearly four years ago, Harrington has toiled with his own high expectations and slipped to 94th in the world behind the likes of Brian Davis, Michael Hoey and Alexander Noren. Yet he appears more convinced than ever that he now has the steady, relentless game to go on and win more majors, despite the alarming decline in his prowess on the greens.

“I’ve holed my fair share in my time and I will hole plenty more,” Harrington said after his third round 71 severely dented his title hopes.

With a better long game than ever, he has been caught in the same trap that convinced Colin Montgomerie he was a poor putter — the more greens you hit in regulation, the more 15-foot birdie putts you miss.

It’s the ultimate golfing ‘Catch 22’ yet Harrington, the trained accountant, knows that this is a numbers game. “I am confident that I will keep playing like this all the time and if I keep playing like this, wins will come around,” he said.

“There will be more major wins.”

Jack Nicklaus often said that he won many of his majors because others lost them. And Harrington now appears to be finding that consistent mindset in the Grand Slams, despite struggling to convert his chances on the greens over the first three days at The Olympic Club.

Had he converted even a small percentage of the many wedge shots he faced in the first three rounds, the Dubliner would have had a far later tee time last night.

“I guarantee I wouldn’t be within sniffing distance if this was a regular tournament,” he said of his poor conversion rate.

Finding the perfect balance between the Pádraig of old and 2012 model is now his biggest challenge.