Harrington struggling on

European Tour: Padraig Harrington has admitted he is struggling for motivation as he returned to European Tour action following the death of his father.

Harrington withdrew from the British Open championship at St Andrews last week after his father, Paddy, died following a long battle with cancer.

"I said the week before my dad passed away I would be happy enough to pack the clubs away and leave them for a year," Harrington said ahead of the TPC of Europe starting in Hamburg today.

"I am not bad when I'm on the golf course, but it is hard to get motivated to get on the golf course when I'm off it.

"I came here a bit earlier than I would probably need to for a course that I know, but that is just trying to get into it somewhat.

"It doesn't feel good at the moment, but hopefully by Thursday it will be okay."

Harrington finished second behind Trevor Immelman in Heidelberg last year and beat Thomas Bjorn in a play-off the last time the €3.3 million event was played at Gut Kaden.

"I don't know what it is that suits me about the golf course," added the Dubliner. "I ran it through my head as I was coming here on the plane and don't necessarily think I have any great advantage here.

"It was a very important win at the time. They were lining up more headlines for another second place at that stage, I think it was going to be 22 second places, so it was good to get a win."

Joining Harrington will be compatriots Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy.

Meanwhile, buoyed by his 15th place in the British Open championship last week, John Daly is targeting a Ryder Cup debut at the K Club next year.

And the two-time major winner, who is in the field in Hamburg, believes the American team have learnt a huge amount from Europe's record-breaking victory at Oakland Hills in 2004.

US captain Hal Sutton was widely criticised for a number of high-profile mistakes in Detroit, most notably putting Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson together and seeing the world's second and fourth-ranked players suffer two defeats on the opening day.

The two-year qualifying period used to select the team also came under fire, and Daly believes copying the 12-month system used in Europe - which gets under way in Switzerland on September 1st - will ensure more in-form players make the team.

"It's been kind of a jinx for me to get in the Ryder Cup it seems," said Daly, who missed out in 1991 and 1995 despite winning the USPGA and British Open titles respectively.

"My good play was in the years where the points didn't count double and it hurt me. Hopefully now we're doing it the way the Europeans are, a one-year deal, I can get off to a good start on the west coast in January and get some points early.

"It was tough to watch last year and I actually turned the TV off. Our guys were not having fun. The Europeans were signing autographs, good camaraderie . . . our guys just didn't seem to click.

"I hope Tom (Lehman, US captain at the K Club) sits back and asks the guys: 'Okay, who do you feel more comfortable playing with?'

"Don't just point to them and say: 'You guys are playing together, go out and win'. You can't do that.

"You've got to get two guys who have played in matches together somewhere down the line, whether it's a money game or Walker Cup or World Cup or something.

"We all thought Phil Mickelson and Tiger wasn't a good match because they are both veterans and should have been playing with rookies. It puts too much pressure on them to get a point. I don't think Tom will do that."

Daly also joked he would never say he was too tired to play 36 holes in a day, as Chris Riley infamously did at Oakland Hills, despite not exactly being the fittest golfer on the planet.

The 39-year-old has had well documented problems with his weight, drink and drugs, but insists he is happy with how he is and has no plans to embark on a fitness regime favoured by many of the top players.

"Jack Nicklaus never did and look how many he won," added Daly. "I'm not a work-out guy. Every time I used to do it I threw up after I got done.

"They don't let you smoke or drink in gyms, so you know I'm not going to have any fun doing that. In the early '90s I bought gym equipment for the home and did pretty good for six months.

"But I got real tight in my chest and my swing was all screwed up and I said I'll never do it again. If I get fatter I just buy bigger clothes. I don't care.

"This ain't a beauty contest out here you know. I have no idea what I weigh. I know my pants still fit, so that's the only thing I gauge it on."

British Open runner-up Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal are also in the field this week.

While Montgomerie's career second-best finish at the British Open has encouraged the former seven-time European number one to believe he can again be a force in the game, Olazabal will be happy not to have to set his sights on Tiger Woods in Germany.

For a short time at St Andrews, Olazabal trailed playing-partner Woods by just a stroke but eventually had to settle for a tie for third with Fred Couples.

After his best result at the Open since 1992, and his best in a major since the second of his Masters titles in 1999, the 39-year-old Spaniard hopes he can add to his trophy cabinet.

"It was a step forward towards what I want to do with my game and I have a lot of confidence this week," said Olazabal, who has risen to 40th in the world rankings.

He believes it is up to players to go out to try to beat Woods, with whom he played three rounds last week, rather than be intimidated by the 29-year-old American.

"Nobody can expect to play well week after week, but Tiger gets the nearest," Olazabal said.

"He's going to be tough to beat, but we're trying to improve our games so every now and then we can go out and kick his ass."

US Open champion Michael Campbell, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen and defending champion Trevor Immelman are also in Hamburg.