A day later than originally planned, Padraig Harrington yesterday set off for Japan - and the World Cup, which starts on Thursday - in the belief that, in terms of his golf game's development, the best is yet to come. Newly installed into the top-10 in the world rankings, and with a long-awaited fourth tournament win finally claimed, the 30-year-old Dubliner intends to spend much of the winter months continuing the quest for improvement.
"I am a good learner, a little bit slow at times, but a good learner. It is my best trait. I am a player who has learnt from past mistakes. All those times that I finished second, each one was different, and each time I learned something from the experience," insisted Harrington, whose win in the Volvo Masters enabled him to reach a career-high 10th place, one behind Darren Clarke, in the latest world rankings.
He added: "I have spent my entire career trying to improve, to change and improve. I intend to take 10 weeks off from competitive golf over the winter and that will give me time to sit back and analyse what I need to do. It will give me a chance to figure out what I need to do to improve further. There are a hundred things to figure out.
"However, there won't be change just for the sake of it. My coach Bob Torrance keeps telling me that 'you shouldn't strengthen the weak if it weakens the strong', so I certainly won't be making any changes that would hurt something else. But I know I can make things tidier, and that is what I will be working on. I have loads to do yet, and I definitely want to try to keep improving."
Harrington was originally scheduled to take a charter flight to Paris on Sunday night before connecting on to Japan, but, aware that too many Sunday nights this season were spent tormenting himself after seven runners-up finishes, he decided he was due some time with his wife, Caroline, to actually celebrate a victory rather than reflect on defeat.
His progress as a player is not only reflected in his world ranking, however. When he rolled in that 25-footer for birdie on the 54th hole at Montecastillo on Sunday evening, it was a putt that also clinched him the European Tour's stroke average for the season. It is the statistic most cherished by the players on tour and, for Harrington, it highlighted his development.
His stroke average for the year was 69.23, and it is a statistic that bears comparison with previous years. In 1998, he had a stroke average of 71.10; in 1999, it was 70.88, and in 2000, it was 70.33. Not only has he improved with each year, but he was over one shot a round better this season than last, which is a huge leap at this level.
Interesting, Harrington's stroke average this year also beat previous recent winners: Darren Clarke had the lowest average in 1998 with 69.45; Colin Montgomerie's was 69.59 in 1999, and Lee Westwood was 69.62 last season.
While Harrington is on an upward surge in the rankings, the improvement of Paul McGinley - whose runner-up finish on Sunday was his 12th top-10 finish of the season - is even more marked. McGinley, who teams up with Harrington in the World Cup this week, has moved from 66th place in the world rankings at the start of the year up to a career-high 35th position. After the World Cup, he plans to play in a tournament on the Japanese Tour and, then, play in the Hong Kong Open which is on the European Tour's 2002 schedule so it is feasible that his year-end position will be even higher.
Harrington's remaining commitments this year are in non-world ranking tournaments, the Sun City in South Africa and the Williams Challenge in California. The immediate engagement, however, is the World Cup, an event which Harrington and McGinley won at Kiawah Island in 1997.
"We have both had a tough week in Montecastillo but it would mean an awful lot to Paul and myself if we can do well. We are both better players now but the nature of a two-man team event is such that you don't really know what is going to happen.
"It is hard to say how one person is going to do in a given week, let alone two of us. It is a tough format, foursomes and fourballs, but if we can hole some putts then we will be right up there," said Harrington.
Among the teams in opposition are defending champions the United States, comprising David Duval and Tiger Woods.
While many of the world's top players will be competing in the World Cup, the other side of professional golf will be on view in the south of Spain where the European Tour's final qualifying school takes place. Four Irish players - Philip Walton, David Higgins, Paddy Gribben and Gary Murphy - are among those playing.
