Harrington’s eyes firmly fixed on Fota

Pádraig Harrington insists he would crawl out of his “death bed” rather than miss the Irish Open from June 19-22.

But if he’s to head to Fota Island direct from the previous week’s US Open at Pinehurst, he must first put himself through the agony of teeing it up in the International Sectional Qualifier at Walton Heath on May 26.

“Absolutely, 100%,” Harrington said during an Irish Open photo-call at Stackstown Golf Club. “The last time I played in a qualifier for a major was for the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie.

“It was at Panmure and I qualified too. It was the only time I ever played in a qualifier for a major because I never tried as an amateur. I qualified for the US Open on my Order of Merit position in 1997 and 1998.”

While he’s exempt for the British Open and the US PGA until he’s 60, the 42-year old Dubliner’s run of 14 straight Masters appearances could end this year if he doesn’t win on the PGA Tour or return to the world’s Top 50 by March 31.

As for the US Open, his 1999 absence is his only blank since he first qualified in 1998. He is struggling to meet the minimum 13-event requirement for European Tour membership, not to mention 15 events in the US.

He said: “A win sorts out everything, it really does. A win puts me back in the top 50, The Masters, the Matchplay or Doral and you are in a position where if you play well, you are going to make the Ryder Cup team. It’s straightforward.

“If I play average, I am going to have to play more events. If I play badly I won’t be in the big events in the States, so I can go back to Europe to play.”

He heads to the US for a three-week run on Sunday knowing that a win in the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the Northern Trust at Riviera would all sort out his ticket for Augusta, Pinehurst and the WGCs.

He’s not putting pressure on himself to win any particular week but he knows he’s certain of a hero’s welcome from big crowds at Fota Island.

“I will be absolute fully Corkonian that week,” beamed the Dubliner, whose father Paddy played for the Cork footballers in the 1956 and 1957 All-Ireland finals.

“I think it is a great venue, I really do. The atmosphere last time in the Irish Open, the last time I played in the amateur events there, lent itself very nicely to an event.

“I think the fact there hasn’t been an Irish Open down in Cork for a few years, they like their sport, they will turn out and that’s going to help.

“I think as proven at Royal Portrush, if we go to venues every so often it is more likely people are going to take their one chance to see players they wouldn’t normally see. There are a lot of people in Cork would never have seen Rory (McIlroy) play golf.”