A blip not a slip, says Harrington

Padraig Harrington spent the weekend working on his game, studiously ignoring the roars accompanying some great deed or other out on the Sawgrass course.

It was an unwanted free couple of days off. Yesterday, the Dubliner - who has slipped to 25th in the latest world rankings, compared to sixth a year ago - made the trip to Atlanta for this week's BellSouth Classic. If there are some who are worried about his slide in the rankings, the player is not one of them.

What's the difference between being sixth in the world and now? He was asked. "Not much," he replied. But there is a difference? "It's a win. If I'd won (in Sawgrass) then I'd be sixth in the world, so it is not huge. I've had three wins in the last two years and that's good enough for me," said Harrington, whose last win came in the Barclays Classic in Westchester last June.

"Sure I'm heading in the other direction (in the rankings), but that happens. I could tell you now I am a better player than I was a year ago. That is a fact! I'm a lot better," he insisted.

Over the winter, Harrington made some adjustments to his swing and, despite the slip in the rankings, genuinely believes his game is in better shape than ever. Still, he spent a huge amount of time practising his mid-to-long range putting, chipping and bunker play in his "free" time at Sawgrass, indicative of the areas he feels will be vital as he heads on to next week's first major, the US Masters at Augusta National.

"Nobody likes missing a cut. It makes you more determined, that's all. But it is not like I don't try hard enough anyway. It is not an issue for me. I don't see it as a wake up call. I don't need a wake up call, definitely don't. In the long term, I couldn't be happier with how my swing is going. I think I have made a lot of progress for the better.

"I couldn't be happier with how things are going. I'm about 100 spots ahead of every stat from last year, except for putting. That's the only one I'm back on."

Harrington's missed cut at Sawgrass was his first anywhere since the German Masters last September but the great thing about golf for a tour player is there is always another tournament. In Harrington's case, it is the BellSouth at the TPC at Sugarloaf in Duluth, where Phil Mickelson is the defending champion. It will be his final outing before Augusta.

Harrington had always included the BellSouth in his schedule. Graeme McDowell, in contrast, has belatedly added the tournament after failing to get into the Bay Hill Invitational, because of an administrative oversight in his management company, and the Players, because he had fallen outside the world's top-50, in the past two weeks.

With those absences, his chances of earning a return invite to play in the Masters disappeared and McDowell has had to reappraise his schedule. He is playing BellSouth this week and is even considering an outing on the Nationwide Tour next week to gain some play time.

Of the three Irish professionals guaranteed a place in the Masters, Harrington is the only one in action this week. Darren Clarke, 15th in the world, is in the Bahamas fulfilling business commitments, while Paul McGinley - concerned by his malaise at Sawgrass, which saw him weak and debilitated - is spending time out with his family in Florida before heading to Augusta.

Brian McElhinney, the British amateur champion and the fourth Irishman in the field for Augusta, is due to play in the Georgia Cup in Atlanta tomorrow against the US Amateur Open champion Eduardo Molinari.