Padraig Harrington has a sleek new look this week, all part of the rebranding carried out by club makers Wilson. Philip Reid reports from Troon

Instead of the old red golf bag, he has a classier black and silver one; and even the cap has undergone a transformation to the new colour scheme.

The timing of the fresh look to coincide with the British Open - the biggest week on the golfing calendar - is no accident. By Sunday evening, his manufacturers hope to be hailing him as their latest major champion.

If the Dubliner, as the leading European player in the world rankings, is feeling any pressure, he doesn't show it. Not outwardly, at any rate.

One part of his image that remains the same is the smile that seems to be forever etched on his face and, yesterday, Harrington - smiling, of course - admitted, "majors are always that bit special and because of that there is more pressure . . . but I think you've got to manage that. It's a question of managing the pressure better than the rest."

Ironically, the recurrence of a neck strain over the past week has helped deflect some of the pressure while also limiting his time on the practice ground.

For someone who can be a permanent presence on the range, that's probably not a bad thing at all. A blessing in disguise, as it were.

On Monday, he hit only 12 balls on the range; and yesterday he didn't hit many more. However, the injury hasn't affected his ability to play golf, and he will have put in six practice rounds over the Troon course by the time he tees up tomorrow.

"I've a slight bulge in my C5 (fifth cervical vertebra) in my neck," acknowledged Harrington. "I do a lot of exercises just to keep the pressure away from there but I probably hit one too many balls a couple of weeks ago at The K Club.

"I'd one session with Bob (Torrance) that went on for four hours and I tensed up a little bit in my back which put pressure on my neck. It was four hours of constantly hitting balls, not even stopping to draw breath. I really should know better.

"But usually when I work with Bob everything just works so well that I just continue and get a bit taken away with it . . . but practice is something I like doing. My intention for the next few days is not to hit too many shots. I don't want to upset the neck."

As everyone on tour knows, Harrington is probably the hardest worker around and the time spent on the range contributes to the recurrence - up to four times a year, he reckoned - of the strain.

"All the physios tell me, 'reduce the practice and you won't have a problem', but I've taken the route of keeping up the practice and taking a full-time physio on tour with me.

"I'd say I've reduced the tendencies to have this injury since I've had Dale (Richardson) with me. It's been rare and really it hasn't had any effect on me in a tournament."

Now ranked eighth in the world, Harrington - with one win and three runners-up finishes so far this season - is seeking to make a bigger impression in this third major of the year than he did at the US Masters (tied-13th) and the US Open (tied-31st).

"I'd suggest this is one of the fairest courses on the Open roster," he mused.

"You don't get many bounces off the fairway (into rough) and I think everybody will think they have a chance. Most people will feel this is a golf course they can play."

One factor, though, will be the wind, and Harrington - who played three practice rounds over the links last week before returning home to Dublin for a couple of days and then coming back across the Irish Sea - has had the benefit of playing practice rounds with it blowing in all different directions.

In practice on Monday, with the wind on his back over the front nine, he was hitting five-irons off the tee 290 yards and even drove the 405-yard seventh hole.

On the way back, he was barely hitting a driver 250 yards into the wind.

"The difficulty is judging how far the ball will go . . . it suits a good ball-striker, especially a good iron player, who can get the ball to go the right distance downwind."

On his last appearance here, in 1997, Harrington finished tied-fifth behind winner Justin Leonard. This time, in his opinion, the chances of a European player winning are strong.

"We have half the field, or more. I don't see any reason why we don't have a good chance this year. Obviously a lot of American players have won on this golf course and I believe the reason for that is it's quite a fair links.

"As regards my own expectations, or the burden on me, as I keep saying, I've only got myself into this position quite recently. I'm going to be patient and to bide my time.

"If I haven't won this tournament on Sunday, I'm not going to feel like the world has ended. I'm not going to feel like my world has fallen apart.

"It's very difficult to win a major. I wouldn't say I have teed up in half a dozen where I've felt like I'm a contender, so it's early days for me yet."

If such a philosophy would seem to indicate that Harrington is down-playing his chances in Troon, so be it. But the truth of the matter is that he is the leading European player in the world rankings and, as such, is a serious contender.

He hasn't had the tag of currently being "the best player in the world never to have won a major" placed on his shoulders for nothing.