Golf: Harrington hungry for success

Losing the Cisco World Match Play final two weeks ago gave Padraig Harrington plenty of food for thought.

But food is the reason the Dubliner, who today began the defence of his Madrid Open title, believes his game came apart against Ian Woosnam - or rather, the lack of it.

‘‘One of my old habits is that I lose concentration when I don’t eat properly and that’s what happened against Woosie,’’ said Harrington.

‘‘I eat bananas or energy bars every three holes, but because I had lunch between the rounds at Wentworth and we were a two-ball playing quickly I didn’t do it.

‘‘My routine was broken and it cost me. I get seriously affected and my mind did not get the fuel to concentrate.

‘‘It dawned on me last Saturday. I was playing at Carnoustie and for the first eight holes my concentration was terrible.

"Then I realised we had been sitting around waiting to play and again I hadn’t eaten.

‘‘Looking back on the final, when I got three ahead I relaxed. I have a terrible reputation for doing that - I’m much better when my back is against the wall - and as well as not having taken the food I should have done I didn’t have the adrenaline to top me up.

‘‘It was the first time it had happened to me since I turned pro. As an amateur I used to carry fruit pastilles with me so that I could put sugar into my system quickly.’’

Caddie Dave McNeilly now finds constant reminders part of the job Harrington expects of him.

It appears Harrington has to learn lessons the hard way. Last season he spent months double and triple-checking his scorecard after his disqualification from the Benson and Hedges International Open at The Belfry.

The 30-year-old had failed to add his signature to his first round card and the error was discovered when he was five clear of the field with a round to go. It cost him a probable £166,660.

Harrington has still won only three times in his European tour career and has now had an incredible 16 runners-up finishes.

That is a worrying statistic and he admits he was disgusted with himself at Wentworth, but two of those three victories came on the Club de Campo course where he now finds himself again.

Harrington won the 1996 Spanish Open in his rookie season and on the tour’s return last October he beat Gary Orr by two to claim the Madrid Open.

Seven second places since then, though, have left him less than happy with his year’s work, despite earning over £1m.

‘‘I write down a number of goals at the start of each season and I’ve achieved the majority of them for this year, but with a win I would have nothing to criticise. It would be very, very nice.

‘‘There are other ways to judge success, but if I don’t win there’s bound to be a feeling of it being a disappointing year.’’

Fourth on the Order of Merit, Harrington has left it too late to try to catch Retief Goosen and the South African could easily clinch the money list title this weekend.

Darren Clarke is the only player who has a mathematical chance of overhauling Goosen, but the US Open champion would probably have to miss the cut here and finish last at the Volvo Masters in a fortnight - and Clarke would have to win both.