What with suffering a bout of shingles and, more latterly, from flu, things don't seem to be going as well off the course as they are on it for Pádraig Harrington. Put a club in his hands, though, and the British Open champion is overcoming whatever ailments are present and, now reinstalled in to the world's top 10, the Dubliner heads into tomorrow's Accenture Matchplay Championship knowing at least that he is competitive.
Apart from netting $359,600 (€245,000) from his third-placed finish behind Phil Mickelson in the LA Open on Sunday, following on from his 14th place in the Pebble Beach pro-am, Harrington - back to 10th in the latest official world rankings and up to seventh on the Europe's Ryder Cup world points list table - moved on to Tucson yesterday ahead of his first-round meeting with American Jerry Kelly in the first round of the matchplay.
With the draw for the 64-man field based off the world rankings, Harrington is the number three seed in the Sam Snead bracket and, should he manage to defeat Kelly tomorrow, a second-round date with either Stewart Cink or Miguel Angel Jimenez awaits him.
Despite battling flu for the best part of a week, Harrington is eagerly anticipating the matchplay duel with Kelly, who narrowly missed out on being part of the US team for the Ryder Cup at The K Club two years ago. "It's good to be in these positions where at least I'm being tested," he remarked after his tied-third finish alongside Luke Donald at Riviera on Sunday.
"If I was down in 30th or 40th place, things wouldn't show up as evidently as when you're trying to go forward . . . at times, my concentration was not 100 per cent, but that's to be expected early on in the year." He added: "I'm happy how things are going along.
"Having played a couple of weeks is good. Sure, I could be a little bit better, and I need a little more form.
"But, at the moment, it is not bad. I know I have a tendency to overdo things (in practice) and I've got to make sure I just take it easy for the next couple of days. My game is good enough. But it is always tough going into a match. If I come up against somebody who is in real good form, I don't know if I have the ability to raise my game at this time of the year. But, certainly, the first two weeks (on tour) are encouraging."
Harrington is the only Irish player qualified for the Accenture, a tournament that Colin Montgomerie - who sneaked in with just three places to spare and who has an opening round match with Jim Furyk in the same Snead bracket as Harrington - is looking to make ground in his bid to get back into the world's top 50 in time to secure a place in the field for the US Masters at Augusta in April.
"I'm just glad I'm in the field. It was a tight one, too tight," said Monty has four more tournaments to play - the Accenture, next week's Johnnie Walker Classic in India, the following week's Ballantines tournament in Korea and the CA Championship in Doral - to move into the top-50 in time to receive an invite to Augusta. "I need a couple of top 10s or one really big week to make it in," added Montgomerie, who sees the Accenture as offering "the easiest top-10 of the year" as just two wins would be sufficient.
"My game lacks consistency, that's all. It used to be that I'd have a picture in my mind and the ball went there, but now it doesn't. It's got nothing to do with age. I'm just not believing where it's going positively enough. But my ambition is stronger than ever. Winning is huge and I am not frightened of winning . . . and my aim is not just to get back into the world's top 50 but to get back into the top 25 as a priority," said Montgomerie.
Montgomerie, meanwhile, will defend his European Open title - which he won over the Smurfit Course at The K Club last season - on new terrain in July after it was confirmed yesterday the London Club in Kent will play host to the tournament which was held in Straffan for the past 13 years.
Tiger Woods, the top seed and a two-time winner of the Accenture, has drawn fellow American JB Holmes in the first round, while world number two Mickelson has an opening encounter with Pat Perez. Ernie Els is due to face Jonathan Byrd in the first round.
