On Sunday August 1st had the putt on the seventeenth green not lipped out at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club the country’s only three time major winner, Padraig Harrington, could have played the eighteenth with a bit more bite - applying more pressure to the tournament leader, Ross Fisher, who was a few groups behind the Irishman – and forced an even more favourable result for himself in front of the Irish golfing public.
In the end it was not to be.
With a few hours of overnight recovery back in his hotel overlooking the scenic lakes of Killarney Harrington could take solace from a second place finish with an array of shots on the Saturday that reflected, not only his fighting spirit, but his sheer talent around the greens.
Buoyed with the confidence of a good finish in his national event the Dubliner then set off from Farranfore Airport that Monday afternoon with his family and caddie, Ronan Flood, to the other side of Atlantic Ocean to play in the final series of events in the United States. Not least of which was the season finale – the FedEx Cup.
That was not to be either.
Harrington did not make the weekend golf over the Labor Day weekend at TPC Boston after missing the cut on Saturday and then dropping down the play off standings to 73rd - outside the automatic places for the remaining events - the next of which is the BMW Championship in Lemont, Illinois this week.
Amidst the hectic schedule over the past month the small matter of being a Wild Card pick for the Ryder Cup was also announced.
Having faced endless criticism for not playing enough in European Tour events to ensure his automatic qualification for Wales, Harrington will face the demands of The Celtic Manor Resort and the USA team with negative background noise about the appropriateness or otherwise of his selection - based on his poor current from.
Notwithstanding the adversity, to which he is accustomed, Harrington returns to Europe this week with a freer schedule than planned and with a need to fill the empty weeks with an event or two on this side of the Atlantic Ocean that will allow him complete his preparations for the 2010 Ryder Cup at the beginning of October.
At this stage of the season the choices are limited with the KLM Open at Hilversum due to start on Thursday which is then followed by the Austrian Golf Open at Atzenbrugg next week and then the Vivendi Trophy in Paris.
On the Irish Region the only other event being suggested is the Irish PGA Championship, which in the past has been the place Harrington has honed his links game prior to playing in the Open Championship.
Playing The European worked for the Dubliner in Carnoustie in 2007 and then Royal Birkdale in 2008. With the 100th Irish PGA to be hosted at Seapoint Golf Club in two weeks or so and with a total of six wins in the event there is perhaps no better place for Harrington to tame the demons, and get back to basics perhaps triggering wining ways again.
Since he played the first of his five Ryder Cup’s in Brookline in 1999, Harrington has won eight and half points with a singles record that shows 3 wins and two losses. Albeit at the K-Club in 2006 he fell short of expectations, it was clear by the time the return trip came to Valhalla two years ago there was sense of battle fatigue perhaps the result of winning two Open Championships and the PGA Championship in the preceding 12 months.
Harrington has played the Irish PGA Championship throughout this period of his greatest golf successes also wining the event for the last three years in succession. It probably would make sense now that he is free to throw in an entry for 100th PGA Championship.
Maybe this was always meant to be?
