Golf: Harrington still wary of old Nick

Padraig Harrington knows better than to underestimate Nick Faldo in the first round of the Cisco World Match Play championship tomorrow.

Faldo is now 44 and his last solo victory was more than four and a half years ago. Yet his last two performances at Wentworth tell Harrington that this is no easy opening hurdle.

Called into the £1m event last October for the first time since 1994, Faldo made an immediate exit against Darren Clarke.

But it came only after a ding-dong struggle that was finally settled at the 40th hole, equalling the longest match in the championship’s history.

Then, on his return to the West Course in May for the Volvo PGA, and with Fanny Sunesson back as his caddie, Faldo revived memories of his glory years with a last-day charge that in the end fell just short.

‘‘I would still consider it a real feather in my cap to beat Nick,’’ said the 30-year-old Dubliner.

‘‘He is a great of the game, a six-time major winner and he knows this course.

‘‘Without doubt I’ll get a buzz from beating him. He will be trying just as hard as if he was 24, not 44.

‘‘Maybe I’m the favourite on form, but I’m assuming it’s going to be a pretty even match.

‘‘Andy Oldcorn had to play really well over the closing holes to keep him at bay in the PGA and if I get ahead he’s not going to give up or lay down.

‘‘The course suits him. You can’t overpower it and it’s more about precision.’’

This is Faldo’s 17th appearance in the event - he won it in 1989 and 1992 - and Harrington’s third.

On his debut in 1999 the Irishman knocked out Carlos Franco and three-time winner Ernie Els before being crushed seven and six in the semi-finals by Colin Montgomerie.

Last year the two Ryder Cup team-mates met again in the quarter-finals and Montgomerie won five and three - after firing a championship record and personal record 11-under-par 61 in the morning round.

If the pair are to meet again it will be in Sunday’s final this time.

Harrington, six times a runner-up this season, but still seeking his first win, took advantage of the Ryder Cup postponement two weeks ago to undergo the same laser eye surgery which Tiger Woods has had.

‘‘I used to wear contact lens and had problems with pollen and dust, so this is something I’ve been thinking of having for about a year.

‘‘I could see perfectly from the day after the surgery but it’s not as straightforward as that. There is a genuine risk and a lot of complications and side issues.

‘‘I can’t swim for a month or ski or snowboard for three months and can’t rub my eyes for a year.’’

To make sure he does not do that in his sleep he is now wearing goggles at night.

The treatment cost him £1,000 an eye and, with earnings of nearly £1m this year, he has no hesitation in calling it money well spent.

An all-Irish clash with Clarke will be Harrington’s reward if he beats Faldo, while Montgomerie waits for the winner of the match between Ian Woosnam and US Open champion Retief Goosen.

Lee Westwood and Vijay Singh are the other two players to have a day off tomorrow.

Defending champion Westwood will enter the fray at the quarter-final stage on Friday against either Dane Thomas Bjorn or Australian Adam Scott, while Singh’s opponent will be somebody who a week ago had no idea they would be playing.

Seve Ballesteros was called in at the weekend when organisers chose not to meet John Daly’s demand for a private jet home.

And then yesterday morning, European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance was asked to stand in for Canadian Mike Weir, who decided to stay at home rather than travel at this tense time in the world.

Torrance is 193rd in the European Order of Merit this year and Ballesteros 230th.

Not quite then the clash of the giants that the ‘‘World Match Play’’ title might suggest, but the two players are not complaining - the loser goes away with £50,000 and the winner, guaranteed at least £65,000, will be three more victories away from £250,000.