TEN weeks since holing the winning putt at Carnoustie in the Open Championship, Padraig Harrington returns to the Scottish linksland this morning eager to plot his defence of the £2.5 million Dunhill Links as well as relive the precious moment when he became the first European golfer since Paul Lawrie to secure a major title.
After playing five events in America, where his best finish was 11th at the US Tour Championship, the Irishman is back in Angus feeling a smidgen under-prepared as he attempts to deal with the emotion of such a swift return to the scene of his greate
st triumph. "It's something I'll have to prepare myself for," he said. "On the one hand I want to enjoy it. But, on the other, I want to put in a good score. There's a little bit of conflict there."
Relieved he'll start at the tenth hole rather than the first, Harrington knows Carnoustie's infamous 18th, which provided so much drama during the Open - he went in the water twice before forcing a play-off with Sergio Garcia - will arrive in the middle of his round rather than at the end. Recalling how he lost to Stephen Dundas on the same hole during the 1992 Amateur championship when he went out of bounds, Harrington will still show plenty of respect for "one of the best finishing holes in golf".
Harrington was adamant the decision not to play in either the Seve Trophy or the World Cup were the right ones for him. The Irishman insisted he'd said 'no' to very few requests in the aftermath of winning the Open and would continue to place his obligations as a champion above his ambitions as a golfer until the end of the year. Next season, though, he promised to take a leaf out of Tiger Woods' book and play less often.
Every tournament for Harrington right now feels like the Irish Open as sponsors, press and TV all eat into the time he normally devotes to practice. One of the hardest-working players on this side of the Atlantic, Harrington revealed that since arriving in Scotland on Monday afternoon and teeing up at 9:55am at Carnoustie this morning, he'll have spent just 45 minutes on the practice ground. "I need to get back to the nitty-gritty," he confessed.
Harrington is also certain his old friend Paul McGinley did the right thing last week in stepping down as one of Europe's vice-captains for the Ryder Cup to concentrate on playing his way into the team. As to his own decision not to play in the Seve Trophy, the Irishman admitted to a few twinges of inner turmoil when he saw the poor attendances on Thursday and Friday. "I did feel bad, but I made the right decision. Otherwise something was going to break and it was probably going to be me."
Since Colin Montgomerie will keep Faldo company over the first three days at the Dunhill, the Scot was also quizzed about what he thought of his former Ryder Cup partner as Europe's captain in the wake of McGinley's resignation as vice-captain. While Harrington indicated Faldo was "well able" to handle any criticism, Montgomerie also chose his words carefully. But it was obvious that he too believes the winner of six major championships will captain in the self-absorbed manner he played.
"Nick was exactly the way I thought he would be," observed Montgomerie on looking back over events at the Seve Trophy. "He knows the Ryder Cup and matchplay like no-one else. A captain needs respect and the one thing Nick Faldo has above anything is the respect of the players on the European Tour."
The full article contains 626 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
