No dilution of his passion, nor of his desire. Yesterday, cast in the role of poster boy at a photo-shoot for the Irish Open at Fota Island this summer, Pádraig Harrington – back on home turf, as it were, at Stackstown Golf Club in the foothills of the Dublin mountains where he crafted a swing that would take him to three Major titles (so far!) – was clear in what the cherished old tournament means to him.
"I will crawl out of my death bed to play it," said Harrington, of what impact the Irish Open – an event he won at Adare Manor in 2007 prior to making his Majors breakthrough in the British Open at Carnoustie just two months later that season – holds, not just to him, but to the other Irish Major champions. "I think the only time an Irish guy hasn't turned up at an Irish Open is when he has had an issue that somebody else was getting a fee or something like that . . . I don't think no Irish guy is not going to turn up nowadays assuming all things are equal," he added.
No appearance fees
With no appearance fees divvyed out to players, unlike so many other regular tournaments, the Irish Open must stand on its own merits. To that end, the commitment of Ireland's four modern Major champions in Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke provides a line-up that the marketing men involved in every other regular event on the European Tour would be drooling over.
“We have all gained a lot from golf in Ireland through our amateur days, all played on teams . . . I don’t know if there is an Irish player who didn’t go through the amateur system in Ireland. We are all comfortable to support an Irish event because of that, we have an affinity,” said Harrington, who is home for a short break following his outings in South Africa and Abu Dhabi these past two weeks before resuming play in next week’s Phoenix Open, his seasonal debut on the US Tour.
The next few weeks will be important in a lot of ways for Harrington, who isn't in the field for either of the upcoming world golf championships (the Accenture matchplay or the Cadillac). Neither is he in the field for the US Masters in April, nor for the US Open at Pinehurst in June, the week immediately before the Irish Open at Fota on June 19th-22nd.
In the top 50
As he conceded, "A win (in the next three tournaments on the PGA Tour) sorts out everything, it really does. A win puts me back in the top 50, the Masters, the Matchplay or Doral and you are in a position where if you play well, you are going to make the Ryder Cup team. It's straightforward."
Harrington is playing the Phoenix Open, the Pebble Beach pro-am and the Northern Trust Open. Big weeks, with big consequences with regards to getting into the Masters and the WGCs.
Indeed, it is an indication of Harrington’s strong desire to compete at the very elite level that he will play in international qualifying (at Walton Heath, the day after the BMW PGA at Wentworth) for the US Open if he hasn’t managed to gain an exemption.
“The last time I played a qualifier (for a Major) was for the 1999 Open at Carnoustie. It was Panmure. I qualified too. It was the only time I have ever played in a qualifier for a Major.”
As far as the Irish Open is concerned, an event he has referenced as a fifth Major for the Irish players, there are no worries about qualifying. For that week, the Dubliner will be, as he puts it, "fully Corkonian."
Great venue
He added: "I think it is a great venue, I really do. The atmosphere the last time in the Irish Opens (in 2001 and 2002) and the times I played in the amateur events there (winning the Irish Amateur Open), lent itself very nicely to (staging) an event. I think the fact there hasn't been an Irish Open down in Cork for a few years, they like their sport, they will turn out and that's going to help. I think as proven at Royal Portrush, if we go to venues every so often it is more likely people are going to take their one chance to see players they wouldn't normally see, there's a lot of people in Cork would never have seen Rory play golf."
