Harrington cramming before his latest exam

There's no doubt about it, Padraig Harrington is not your ordinary professional golfer. He doesn't live with his head in the clouds.

Yesterday, just days before one of the biggest examinations of his year, the Dubliner was asked for an assessment of his game. Without batting an eyelid, he replied that it was "pretty shabby".

Could you imagine Tiger or Vijay responding in such a fashion? "I'm just trying to gather everything together at this stage in the week," admitted Harrington, who has slipped to 11th in the world rankings, outside the top 10 for the first time in over a year.

"You know, I always look to my weaknesses before I start a tournament and try and get them up to strength. On a practice day, I'm focused on the weakest part of my game, and that's why I would look and say, 'well, I'm not quite ready yet'. That's always the same feeling I have every week, certainly every major. It was always the same when I was doing an exam."

In many ways, Harrington is simply glad that he is in a position to play this week. His father, Paddy, is seriously ill since being re-diagnosed with cancer in March - just days after Harrington won the Honda Classic - and was readmitted to hospital last week.

"There were a few times last week when I thought I'd be going home," admitted Harrington, who missed the cut in the Booz Allen at Congressional, "but dad is a lot more comfortable now and the word is he may be out of hospital over the next day or two."

Poignantly, perhaps, next Sunday is Father's Day. But Harrington, while admitting that his off-course thoughts are dominated by what is happening at home, is determined that it shouldn't affect how he approaches the US Open.

"I couldn't have got more encouragement from my dad without him ever in any sense pushing me or wanting to live his life through my sports. It's no extra incentive (to win), my father's not like that. If I don't win, it won't be a burden.

"I'm not under any pressure to go out and play for dad. He would be happy if I won. I'm here as a professional. If I'm here, I've got to play golf - outside of golf, I spend a lot of time thinking about it. Regardless of the pressure or distraction, on the golf course I'm trying to be disciplined in doing my job."

Certainly, he has prepared diligently, if getting to the course sooner than he would have liked after missing the cut at Congressional. This is his 29th appearance in a major since turning professional in 1995.

Apart from his debut appearance in the US Open, which ended in a missed cut - coincidentally, at Congressional in 1997 - Harrington has shown he has the game and mental fortitude required for the examination generally set by the USGA, with three top-10 finishes in his last five outings.

In preparation for this major, Harrington first appeared in Pinehurst a month ago. "There was very light rough then," he said.

Since then, the rough has grown and thickened - and he has played a further 36 holes, on Sunday and Monday, trying to familiarise himself with the course. And especially the rough. "It's as thick as you'd ever want it to be," he said.

The big question mark, though, is over Harrington's tournament sharpness. So far this year, he has played only 11 tournaments, missing the cut in two of them.

Eight of those events have been in America, the highlight of course being his win in the Honda Classic, while three have been in Europe. In contrast, the likes of Vijay Singh has played 18 times this year, and Ernie Els has played 16 times.

Still, Harrington claims he isn't concerned about his competitive sharpness. "I'm actually swinging the club well," he said, with much of his time in the build-up to tomorrow's opening round being spent on how to play shots in and around the turtle-back greens. "This year the shaved areas are very soft. They've just been resodded and the ball is dying, so realistically you can't pitch and run through it . . . it's a bit scraggy."

If he's a bit like a student cramming before an exam, that's just his way. By tee-time tomorrow, though, he'll hope that all the chinks have been worked out and that his time on the course can help him deflect from his father's illness at home.

"I think whoever is going to win is going to have to play the best golf during the week in all departments . . . (even) an outsider who is playing well is the best player in the world, so you can't rule anyone out. If any of the 150-plus guys who tee it up this week plays well, with confidence, they'll become as good as anybody else in the field and can win. It could possibly be an outsider, but I still think it will be one of the favourites."

We didn't see if he had his fingers crossed wishing that someone was himself, for he is considered one of the favourites. No doubt, he'd love it to be. But, then, Harrington is not one for looking into the future.