GOLF NEWS:IN THE new "Harrington Room" in Stackstown Golf Club in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, the man himself – surrounded by the memorabilia of his global feats, with the Claret Jug, replica Ryder Cup and assorted photographs, flags, trophies and whatnot spanning his amateur days to his three Major championship successes – was yesterday in no mood to believe he had reached his peak.
“I probably have a better understanding of my game than I have at any stage in my career,” remarked Harrington, before later expanding: “I think there is room for them to squeeze another trophy or two (into the exhibition). I could sit back and look back, and maybe I will in time and say ‘that was great, I won x amounts of Majors’, but that’s not me at the moment.”
Harrington, who returns to action in next week’s Houston Open in Texas ahead of the season’s first Major, the US Masters at Augusta National, then used a story relating to Nick Faldo’s continued striving for more glory at the tail-end of his career to espouse the philosophy of a Major champion wanting to win more of golf’s most-prized possessions.
As Harrington recalled: “It must have been close to 2000, maybe 2002, and his (Faldo’s) competitive career had probably come to (an end). I think he had started commentating at that stage. I played a practice round with him, nine holes, and he really grinded. At the end of the nine holes, I said to him, ‘you were really grinding there’, and he said, ‘yeah, I’d love to win just one more’. So, no Major winner ever (stops), they always want one more and they think that one more will actually make them happy. But one more won’t make them happy, they want two more then. But I’m in the prime of my playing career. I believe I’m going to play my best golf going forward. I absolutely think that the best is yet to come,” said Harrington.
If he were looking for inspiration to kick-start his season, then yesterday’s return to his roots at the club where he first hit golf balls and followed his father, Paddy, around the mountainous if immaculate terrain would likely provide therapy for the most exasperated human being.
Harrington, though, despite a lacklustre start to the season which has seen him claim only one top-10 finish (in the WGC-Cadillac at Doral a fortnight ago) is far from an exasperated player. “Obviously, the season so far has not gone as well as I would have liked so far as results are concerned . . . (but), if I talked about how I was feeling about my game, I’ve never been happier. It would be nice to be showing some results. I could do with some results, there’s no doubt about that. But, in saying that, I’ve probably never been as comfortable with my game ever. So, on that front, I’m happy.”
Was there a contradiction in that viewpoint? “Yeah, there would be a contradiction in terms of the short term. I don’t believe there will be a contradiction over a period of time. If you’re happy with your game and things like that, then results will follow. So far this year, it really hasn’t (happened), I haven’t had my week or weeks so far. I’m waiting patiently and looking forward to every opportunity I get to play.”
The idea of last year’s club captain Felix McKenna, the “Harrington Room” is a wonderful archive of what their most famous golfing son has achieve – so far – in his career. Yet, as he heads to Houston this weekend for one final tournament before heading on to Augusta for his 12th Masters appearance, Harrington left nobody in any doubt that his desire remains as strong as ever. “It would be hard to cap the results I’ve had,” he conceded, “but we’ll see if we can do that. There’s no point in trying to stand still or hold onto what you had because you don’t know what you had.
“It’s not something that’s tangible enough to go out the following week and keep it – that’s not the way golf works! You have to keep trying to improve.”
