Harrington well cut out for tourism roleOne of Padraig Harrington's main sponsors is Fáilte Ireland, with the world number seven's task to promote Ireland - winner of the 2004 International Destination of the Year in the annual worldwide tour operators' awards - as a golfing destination.
Indeed, golf tourism is the biggest specialised sector in the industry bringing in an estimated 150 million to the Irish economy.
So it was that Harrington (whose bag carries a logo encouraging people to visit Ireland to sample the country's green and pleasant fairways) was present, in a manner of speaking, at a big marketing shindig in Augusta on Thursday night, hosted by Tourism Ireland.
Of course the player himself wasn't there, but a life-size cut out of the Dubliner in the hallway greeted visitors to a house off Walton Way, one of the plusher neighbourhoods in the city.
Mattiace packs up early once again
What a difference a year makes . . . 12 months on from losing a play-off to Mike Weir for the Masters, Len Mattiace must be wondering what hex has afflicted him in this campaign so far. Yesterday he packed his bags early - again - after missing the cut, the third cut he has missed in four outings on the circuit this year.
"After last year, it's disappointing not to play well for the first two days," admitted Mattiace, who shot rounds of 76 and 75 to finish on seven-over-par 151. "I'm hitting too many wild shots right now. It was a special event last year but that is the past. I've now got other challenges ahead of me."
Left-hander Flesch right back in hunt
How about another left-handed winner of the Masters? And it's not Phil Mickelson. Steve Flesch put down a marker to follow on from Mike Weir with a second round 67 yesterday, all of nine shots better than his opening round 76 to move to one-under-par at the midway stage.
When he finished his round on Thursday, he simply left the confines of the course because he was so disgusted with his performance.
Unlike his opening round which contained no less than four three-putts, yesterday's round of five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys featured just one three-putt.
"The difference was that I was putting myself in better positions on the greens," he remarked.
Player good bet to beat Arnie's mark
Gary Player may have missed the cut in the 68th US Masters - in fact, he hasn't made the cut since 1998 when he finished 46th - but the South African, competing for the 47th time, is the player (forgive the pun) most likely to beat Arnold Palmer's record of 50 appearances.
However, Player's run of appearances at Augusta National have not been in successive years. Still, of the international players, he has the record of most consecutive starts (34), most par or better rounds (71), most times the low international (10) and, of course, the player with the most starts (47). His lowest 72-holes total was 11 under-par 277 in 1978, when he won his third green jacket.
