Harrington steps up a gear on Ryder road

From now on, Padraig Harrington's bid to secure an automatic place on Europe's Ryder Cup team is due to step up a notch. The 34-year-old Dubliner, without a tour win since his dramatic success in last year's Barclays Classic at Westchester exactly 12 months ago, defends his title at the New York course this week in the first of what will be a five-week successive stint on the road aimed at galvanising his season.

Harrington's itinerary will see him play seven tournaments over the next eight weeks with the only free one coming in the week before the British Open at Hoylake in June.

As of now, Harrington plans playing three successive weeks in America (in the Barclays Classic, next week's US Open at Winged Foot, and the Booz Allen Classic) before returning to Europe where he has added on the French Open at the National in Paris to his original itinerary and then plays in the Smurfit Kappa European Open at the K Club's Smurfit Course. He is not playing the Scottish Open, but is playing the following week's British Open and then the Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe in Germany to complete a hectic period of competition.

Currently 13th in the world points list and 14th in the European points list in the qualifying race for the Ryder Cup, which takes place at the K Club on September 22nd-24th, qualifying is very much on his mind.

But Harrington prefers to look at each tournament separately, and so it is he faces into the defence of his Barclays Classic title as a tournament worth winning in its own right.

"I would love to play the Barclays Classic as a tune-up for the US Open, (but) it's a big enough event in its own right that I would be trying to win the Barclays Classic solely and not getting my game ready for the US Open. Come Thursday, I'm just thinking of the Barclays Classic. It's a big, big event and has a lot of heritage in its own right because it's played on such a fine golf course on Westchester . . .

"So I won't be using the event itself as a tune-up. The fact it's in so close proximity (to the US Open), it does make it a lot easier. The fact the turf and the weather are going to be very similar; the fact we can eat in the same restaurants and stay in the same bed for two weeks, it's only going to help you at the US Open. But I'll be focused on the Barclays Classic," said Harrington, who will be joined at Westchester by Graeme McDowell, who is playing his ninth tournament in nine weeks.

This is also a big week stateside for two aspiring Irish professionals, with Gareth Maybin and Mark Murphy both playing in the final sectional qualifiers for the US Open. The two players are in action today (Tuesday), Maybin in Atlanta where there are four places available, with Murphy playing in Tampa, where there are three places in the US Open field available.

Maybin claimed his second success on the Hooters Tour, effectively the number three circuit in the US, when winning the Quicksilver Enterprise Classic in Pennsylvania a fortnight ago and then came through regional qualifying to book a chance to join the big guys at the US Open. Maybin has previously played at Ansley Golf Club in Atlanta, during his time as a student at the University of Alabama. "Somebody has to qualify, so why can't it be me?" said the 25-year-old Ulsterman.

Paul McGinley, meanwhile, has decided to play in the BA-CA Open in Austria rather than play the Barclays Classic, which was his original intention. McGinley is joined in the field in Fontana by Gary Murphy, Michael Hoey, David Higgins, Stephen Browne and Colm Moriarty.