Golf BellSouth Classic: A flashback to last year has kept Padraig Harrington's feet firmly on the ground with Augusta only a week away. The 32-year-old has once again moved on from Jacksonville to Atlanta after being runner-up in the Players Championship.
But now he is looking to avoid a repeat of what happened 12 months ago: missed cuts in both the BellSouth Classic and then the Masters.
"I think I made the fateful error of thinking 'I finished second last week, I can only get better'," said Harrington yesterday. "I think my expectations were high and I was maybe a little bit over-confident. Hopefully I won't be doing that this year."
Even with his fantastic closing burst on Sunday - eight under par for his last 12 holes - Harrington was not tempted to take this week off and concentrate solely on the first major of the season.
"I always need to play before any important event. I like to just sharpen my game up," he said. "It doesn't matter how much practice you do, you need to be on the golf course to see where your swing is at.
"I've only played four tournaments this year. It wouldn't even cross my mind pulling out this week.
"And I didn't walk away from last week with bundles of confidence. I played awful for probably half the week. Luckily a couple of those days were Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a good time to play bad!"
Australian Adam Scott, the winner at Sawgrass, has also stuck to his decision to play at Sugarloaf, and Harrington believes all those going on to the Masters could benefit.
"It's great preparation. It's exactly like Augusta in that you're being asked to pick clubs in swirling winds, there are a lot of elevation changes and there's a lot of trouble around the greens," he added.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, has opted for practice at home, as has become his norm.
Harrington partnered the world number one on Sunday and beat him by seven. But although that came only a week after Woods' worst finish for five years - 46th at Bay Hill - the Dubliner still makes him favourite for the Masters.
"I wasn't watching his swing too much, but I thought his imagination was good and his short game strong," said Harrington. "If he's not swinging too well, that can turn around very quickly. I think he's got three-quarters of what he needs to do well and I think he'll be right there.
"He makes things happen. If he's there or thereabouts coming into the back nine, he can make things happen. You want to see some of the quality shots he hits. He's still the number one guy - probably by quite a bit."
Meanwhile, Luke Donald, one of the rising stars of European golf, could be about to make himself ineligible for this year's Ryder Cup.
Donald, Jesper Parnevik and other US Tour-based Europeans have been asked by the European Tour to stipulate in the next few weeks which 11 tour events they intend to play in this season to remain members of the circuit.
Like Parnevik, Donald appeared in only four last season and if they decide not to commit to 11 they will not be considered for the Ryder Cup - even as wild cards.
The 26-year-old Englishman said in Atlanta yesterday: "It's a tricky one for me. There's no doubt I would love to play in the Ryder Cup, but I've made my home in the States now and I don't think it would make sense to uproot myself and return to Europe just so that I can play the 11."
Donald, who in February lost a play-off to John Daly for the Buick Invitational, has failed to qualify for the Masters, which counts for both circuits.
He is also not currently exempt for the other three majors this season or for the World Golf Championships either, even though he stands 30th on the US money list with over $600,000 so far.
Parnevik is even higher at 27th after his return to form and, of course, is a member of the last three Ryder Cup teams.
But his chances of a fourth cap have already suffered because his failure to play 11 events last season meant he did not collect any qualifying points until the start of this season.
