GOLF:THE SLIPPING and sliding down the rankings would indicate Pádraig Harrington's game is in a somewhat perilous state. Right? Wrong.

Yesterday, in the countdown to the Irish Open, which starts here at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club tomorrow, the three-time Major champion – who knows his game better than anyone, it must be said – put a positive spin on where he is headed in a bid to regain that winning feeling.

Without a win on either the European or US Tour since his US PGA title win in 2008, but with a victory in the Johor Open on the Asian Tour eight months ago to remind us he hasn’t gone completely cold, the Dubliner admitted the lack of wins contributes to “my own personal stress”, but insisted: “There’s not too many external factors worrying me at the moment, no.

“I’m very happy with where my game is and where it is going. I’m not sure whether it will turn up this week, but I’m very positive.”

Then again, he generally is very positive.

And, for sure, Harrington – the player whose wins in the 2007 and 2008 British Open and the 2008 US PGA acted as the catalyst for what is now the European Tour’s dominance of the Majors and the world rankings – is now the one hoping to get back into the slipstream created by the wins of Rory McIlroy in the US Open and Darren Clarke in the British Open.

“I can certainly use their wins as positive affirmation,” accepted Harrington.

Harrington’s form this season has been erratic, with just three top-10 finishes – all of them in the United States – and two missed cuts in the Majors, at the US Masters where he was afflicted by a neck injury and more recently at the British Open.

In the end, though, it all comes down to putting and that is an area, so often his strength down the years, which has been the cause of frustration.

He said: “If I look at any part of my game this year, I’ve been erratic on the greens, a bit out of trust on the greens. I was great today, but that’s Tuesday. So I feel like I might have turned the corner, but I’d like to play a few tournaments and turn the corner in competition rather than just in practice . . . I think I’m going to have a great week on the greens. But thinking and doing is another thing.”

Whether he likes it or not, Harrington’s numbers point to a rather indifferent season to date: down to 64th in the latest world rankings, he is 88th in the Race to Dubai (with season’s earnings of €205,151) and is also struggling to make an impact on the FedEx Cup standings in the United States, where he is presently ranked 125th.

Yet, Harrington’s mantra is to remain patient. As he put it, “Winning is important. Results are important. As an athlete, a professional athlete, I have to focus on doing all the right things, on going through all of the routines and processes and letting the results happen. There’s no point in putting any more emphasis on winning in a given week or anything else, (it would be) just foolish.”

So, while results determine a player’s season, Harrington’s take is that the longer timeframe is more important.

“You have to stay away from instant results because it’s very fickle. I can play the best golf of my life this week and not win this tournament. It happens. I could play okay (golf) and get the right breaks and win this tournament. Which are you going to be happier with?”

The answer was left hanging in the air, but there’s no doubt Harrington – winner of the tournament in 2007 which acted as his lift on to greater things in claiming Majors – would love nothing better than to return to winning ways on home turf.

And, as Ross Fisher, the defending champion, remarked: “I am sure Pádraig will come good soon and he will start holing some putts. He is too good a player not to.”

The presence of four Irish Major champions in the field has ensured huge demand for tickets – with tournament organisers expecting the four-day attendance to break through the 100,000 mark – but, perhaps wisely, the quartet have been separated for the groupings over the first two rounds.

US Open champion Rory McIlroy will be out at 7.50am tomorrow with David Horsey and Fisher, while British Open champion Clarke tees off 12.15pm with Gregory Bourdy and 2009 champion Shane Lowry.

Harrington will start his quest at 12.25pm tomorrow in a group containing another past champion, Richard Finch, and Damien McGrane, while Graeme McDowell gets his campain under way at 8am alongside Richard Green and Simon Dyson.