Harrington starts afresh

Padraig Harrington is always looking for a change.

The Irishman turned up in Kuala Lumpur this week sporting a dyed blonde hairdo, the result of his now annual trip to the stylist.

Two years ago he shaved it all off. Last year he went spiky. This Christmas, as he enjoyed a nine-week break from golf to enjoy the company of his new little boy, Harrington opted for “cappuccino blonde“.

It raised more than a few laughs when he strolled into the clubhouse of the Sujuana Golf and Country Club today, posing as photographers gleefully snapped his bonce.

But in more ways than just the hairdo, there is a new-look Harrington back on the scene.

The 32-year-old, the highest ranked player in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open field, spent those nine weeks continuing his endless search for the perfect swing.

“I do like a long winter break because I do change things,” he said, referring to his swing and not his hair.

“I work on my game. I am always trying new things with my swing, always. I question whether I will ever come to the stage where I will be happy and will not be changing something.

“I am always trying to develop what I have got and that is the nature of me, that is the type of person that I am.

“Always trying to seek out something different is an unending task, but that is the way I am.”

And yet, despite this obsessive quest to continually remodel his game, Harrington has continued to win tournaments.

Just before Christmas and that visit to the hairdresser, Harrington won his eighth career title at the Omega Hong Kong Open while tinkering with his swing.

His schoolboy friend Paul McGinley, also playing in Kuala Lumpur this week, puts that down to a magnificent short game, which allows Harrington the luxury of experimentation.

“I have been that sort of person for 15 years, tinkering away and working on things. If you are experienced with changing you can handle changing and playing,” said Harrington.

“Five years ago I would have thought I would get to a stage where I would be very happy. But I do question that now. It is just the way I am made, I am always going to be tinkering and changing and working on things.

“It is my make-up and I have to accept that. I wouldn’t be happy unless I was working on something.”

Harrington, along with McGinley, still works with coach Bob Torrance and the aim now is put all the changes he has made over the last five years into place all at the same time.

The reason being that Harrington is concerned that unless he starts playing golf for now instead of always preparing for the future, his career will slip by all too quickly.

“There isn’t anything new at this stage, it is a case of putting it together,” he said.

“I am 32 years of age. Golfers peak between 30 and 40 so I should be in my prime and at some stage I have to get to the situation where I am happy with what I have got and am actually playing rather than developing my swing for the next season.

“I do question whether I will be able to do it. But I do realise that I have got to start playing at some stage.“

Harrington is now playing catch-up golf of sorts after slipping down the rankings to world number 11 during his time off.

The blow was lessened by his victory in Hong Kong, technically the first event of the 2004 season even though it was in December, and he is still the highest-ranked European and the leading player at the Malaysian Open.

“Hong Kong made my winter better but it is tough to sit at home. This is the first time I have dropped out of the top 10 in about two years I think,” he said.

“It is tough to sit there and drop back the rankings. You have to be very patient and strong to do that.

“You feel you are giving people a headstart by not coming out and you have to be confident when you come out and play again you can make it up.”

Harrington is excited, but not just at the challenges that lie ahead or that it is a Ryder Cup year.

“I am now out starting with plenty of things to work on,” he said.