Odd couple gunning for World Cup glory

Padraig Harrington admits he and World Cup partner Paul McGinley are so set in their ways now that they have stopped trying to change each other.

“Myself and Paul get on well both on and off the golf course and that’s a strength, but we are very different when we play golf and very different in how we approach it,” said Harrington ahead of the opening round in Portugal.

“It’s only now, after 14 years, I can say that. I like to be happy-go-lucky and Paul likes beating himself him up.

“That’s how Paul plays his best golf – when his head is down, he’s getting on with it and he’s fighting the world.

“In contrast, I like bouncing along and being cheery. So whilst we are the best of friends we are at the opposite ends when it comes to competition.

“I have given up trying to cheer him up and he’s given up trying to get me to be serious.”

As for their play Harrington added: “He hits it very solid down the fairways all the time and is very consistent whereas I tend to be a little inconsistent.”

This is the 10th year in a row the pair have represented Ireland in the event. The run started when they lifted the title in America in 1997 and Darren Clarke has allowed them to continue ever since even though he could have taken one of the places on a number of occasions.

But Harrington and McGinley go back further than that together, all the way to when Harrington, 34 now and the younger by four years, was just 18.

“I just like to bring that up. I was the new kid on the block and I beat him.” It was the first round of the Irish amateur championship, McGinley was the holder and Harrington won 5&4.

“We have been playing for Ireland since then so we have been doing it quite a while. We get on well when we are out on tour and also relaxing away from the tour.

“We can also manage to knock the edges of each other and that’s exactly what you want.”

The pair finished third last year behind England and Spain. Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez are back together, but Luke Donald now has David Howell as his partner rather than Paul Casey.

That hardly weakens them – Howell beat Tiger Woods on Sunday in Shanghai and is now 13th in the world, two spots above Donald with Harrington sandwiched in between.

Several other teams are not at full strength however. America, for instance, send Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson and South Africa have Tim Clark and Trevor Immelman.

The decisions of Vijay Singh, Michael Campbell, David Smail, Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Nick Price and Thongchai Jaidee not to play mean that Fiji, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Zimbabwe and Thailand are not even in the 24-strong field.