Record prize will not sway Harrington

Record prize money of nearly £2.5m (€3.48m) has not changed Padraig Harrington’s mind about missing the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth in two weeks’ time.

Harrington, who resumed the Benson and Hedges International Open at The Belfry today one behind Bridgwater’s David Dixon, will be taking the week off when most of the European Tour’s biggest names compete for a winner’s cheque of over £400,000 (€557,590).

Putting his name on the circuit’s premier trophies matters to the Dubliner - he said as much when talking about the B&H crown last night – and a Wentworth win would be a huge boost to his chances of becoming Europe’s number one after last season’s near-miss to Retief Goosen.

Yet, because of a record of no top-10 finishes in seven attempts over the Surrey course, he has made alternative plans.

The 31-year-old plays in Germany next week – as do Tiger Woods and Ernie Els - and his following three appearances are in America for the Memorial Tournament (May 29-June 1), Kemper Open (June 5-8) and US Open (June 12-15).

Enjoy watching him while you can then is the message to fans on this side of the Atlantic.

Now the leading European in the world rankings at 10th, Harrington feels there is a double reason for the warmth coming from the galleries this week.

The first, of course, is that he was part of the Ryder Cup success last September. But there is also 2000.

That season Harrington led this tournament by five strokes with a round to play after a course-record 64 on the Saturday.

Before he struck another stroke, however, he was disqualified and his course record was scrubbed out.

There was nothing wrong with it, but it was discovered that his scorecard from the first round contained the signatures of playing partners Michael Campbell and Jamie Spence, but not his own.

He accepted the extreme punishment in exemplary fashion, but the disappointment that lingers is that his record round is not deemed to have counted and the 65s of Adam Scott and Barry Lane last year are the marks everybody is shooting at this week.

“I want my course record recognised,” says Harrington.

“Course records are nice things to have and I can’t understand why mine is not recognised. It was a competitive round.”

The best score yesterday was a 66 from Dixon, the 26-year-old tour rookie remembered for being leading amateur at the 2001 Open and a downwind drive of around 400 yards on Lytham’s final hole that week.

He has yet to have a top-10 finish on the circuit, but is happy enough with his progress as a professional so far.

“I’m only new out here and I’ve learnt a lot,” Dixon said. “You’ve got to be patient and it’s not easy – the standard is really good.

“Mentally I feel I’m in the best position I’ve ever been on the golf course. I feel really positive and don’t let things get me down.”

The presence of some members from his home club Enmore Park as he grabbed two of only nine eagles yesterday was a boost in that respect too.

“It sounded like a thousand of them at times, but I think it was only about 10 or 15. They were going mad at the ninth when my second shot nearly went in -- it felt like the Ryder Cup.”

There was a marked difference, though, for some of Sam Torrance’s team and for Torrance himself.

Darren Clarke is fighting to survive the halfway cut after an opening 77 and Torrance himself resumes on 10 over after an 82, his worst round in Europe since an 83 in the same tournament at St Mellion in Cornwall 12 years ago.