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Knocking at the Door


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September 2005

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By EAMON LYNCH
Senior Editor, GOLF MAGAZINE

Despite 14 worldwide wins and four years as a mainstay of the top 10 in the world rankings, Padraig Harrington is known less for his victories than his near misses- he has more than two dozen second-place finishes in his 10-year career. Fans love his goofy grin and "Lucky Charms" accent, but beneath the charm is a steely competitor constantly looking for an edge. (One experiment with his shoes helped him gain 20 yards off the tee.) With two wins on the PGA Tour in 2005, the 34-year-old Dubliner says he's ready for a major close-up.

This has been your first full season on the PGA Tour. Why did you decide to play in the U.S. and what's been the main difference you've found? I wanted to play more events before The Masters and U.S. Open. Traditionally I don't start playing until the end of February. Last year I had only played 10 events by the British Open. There should be a difference at this stage--I set my schedule to play four more events--but because of family circumstances I haven't played as full a schedule as I thought I would.

Monte Isom

Immediately after you beat Vijay Singh in a playoff at the Honda Classic in March, you learned that your father was battling cancer. How is he? He's comfortable, that's about all I can say. He's gone past treatment at this stage. [Editor's Note: Padraig's father, Patrick, died as this issue went to press.]]

He introduced you to the game, right? He did. He was a very good footballer in his day. When he retired from that, he was looking for another sport. He was a policeman and discovered that it was very difficult for a policeman to get into golf clubs; 30 years ago it was a more exclusive game than it is today. So he and his friends built their own course 10 minutes from my home. That became my playground from 4 years of age.

Does that experience make you want to design your own course? I'm going to do a course in Dubai. I must have looked at over 30 projects around Europe, Asia and the U.S., but Dubai is ideal because it's a blank canvas.

Having a son under 2 years old at home, are there days when you just don't want to hop a plane at Dublin airport? It really has changed me. I used to travel to the States on the Saturday before a tournament. Now I go Monday.

Do you have a private jet yet? No, no I don't.

A lot of attention is focused on the Big Five. Where do you see yourself in the mix? I'm in a bunch of guys outside that Big Five. It's more a leap of faith than anything else to get there. Vijay got to number one, but two years previously he was behind me in the rankings. It's a mental leap of faith. As an amateur I looked at these guys as the top pros and put them on a pedestal. It takes a while to get your head around that you have to compete against them.

You competed with them at the Honda Classic. You flirted with a 59 in the final round and then made two spectacular par saves to beat Vijay. Where does it rank in the career moments? It was very special that I played great in last round and hit some great shots at the end. I've won enough around the world to be happy with my wins, sort of, but it was the way I won that I was happy about.

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