Laid-back Harrington expels all thoughts of Brookline

The holiday image suggests this part of the country is so laid-back that people are in danger of falling over. And, certainly, the timing of roadworks in Oranmore, with half the main street dug up and temporary traffic lights in operation, seems to indicate that those involved in the mad scramble for Ryder Cup points a couple of miles away at Galway Bay shouldn't get too stressed out.

Padraig Harrington appears to have adopted such an approach. Although the inaugural West of Ireland Classic is the penultimate qualifying event in determining automatic places for Brookline, Harrington - at 16th, the top player in Europe's table competing this week - is refusing to get caught up in all the Ryder Cup hullaballoo and, in fact, claims to have only a "vague idea" about what he needs to do in the next two weeks to make the team.

"I don't want to know where I am. I have no idea how much I have won, and I don't want to know where I would be if I won the points this week," stated Harrington. There is nothing sinister in his motives. The truth is that the top prize on offer here is £41,664 (€58,330) and even a win would leave Harrington needing a top two finish at next week's BMW International, the concluding tournament. In fact, he honestly acknowledged: "If this tournament wasn't in Ireland, I wouldn't be here. Ryder Cup points or not."

He added: "I am 16th and I have a vague idea how much I have got. I just don't study it. I don't want to be looking at guys who are 14th and 15th and worry about how much they are winning in the US PGA because, at the end of the day, they aren't getting in either unless they have a big week. It makes no difference whether I am 16th or 25th. I need one big win, and that is in Germany."

So, winning, rather than nurturing extra Ryder Cup points, is Harrington's main target. And, to that end, he delayed his arrival to take in a stop-over with his coach Bob Torrance in Scotland in an attempt to cure a problem with his stance. "Basically, I'm straightening my leg too much - and I shouldn't straighten it all. My hands were overactive, trying to catch-up," he said. "If you are swinging well, you feel as if your hands are passive."

The strength of the field has been diluted by the clashing USPGA and, also, the limited prizefund. It was weakened still further yesterday when David Howell, winner of the Dubai Desert Classic in February and 19th in the Ryder Cup table, was forced to withdraw because of an ingrown toe nail. Harrington (16th), John Bickerton (21st), Costantino Rocca (24th) and Paul McGinley (26th) are the top players in Europe competing in the event.

"I'm here because I want to be in the Ryder Cup," said Rocca. "I need to win here and have a very good week in Germany. I have tried hard all year to make the team. Why not try right to the end?"

Rocca's early season campaign was limited because of an injury he sustained on December 30th last when he attempted to open a bottle of wine with a knife. He sliced the tendon in the middle finger of his right hand and couldn't hold a club for over a month. "I feel happy with my game, and that's most important," added the Italian.

This unique tournament is a joint-venture between the European Tour and the European Challenge Tour - and, with 17 Irish players in the field, it also represents a realistic opportunity for one of them to put to bed once and for all the statistic that continues to haunt them: than no Irishman has won a tour event in Ireland since John O'Leary's Irish Open success in 1982. Can that change this week?