Second thoughts misleading

Tour Scene News Round-Up: If you put yourself in a position to win a golf tournament, and there is a belief that you should see it through, then any failure is not only noted but underlined, writes  Philip Reid.reports

On too many occasions in such situations, it has seemed that Padraig Harrington becomes the fall guy, that his strike-rate in terms of wins is not what it should be; and that the open wounds can be self-inflicted.

That perception was endorsed by his runners-up finish to Paul Casey in the Benson and Hedges International at the Belfry last Sunday, the 19th second place finish of the Dubliner's professional career. This propensity to be second is more historical than recent - he has been runner-up only three times in the past two seasons - and, too often, too much is made of it. But this was definitely an occasion that you would have expected Harrington to finish the job.

The positive aspect of Harrington's placing at the Belfry - where he was ending a three-week hiatus following his missed cut in the US Masters - is that he remains the highest placed European in the world rankings. In fact, he has moved up a place - from 10th to ninth.

Yet, it was astonishing to encounter people on Sunday evening and on into yesterday who took the negative viewpoint about Harrington's failure to win a tournament he seemingly had in his grip for much of the four days. There were resigned shrugs, and remarks along the lines of, "ah sure, what did you expect? Doesn't he do that all the time?"

The thing is, he doesn't; not always, and not recently. There have been times when he has seen it through and won coming down the stretch. Too often, though, the losses have been graphically illustrated, leaving a sense that there is a chink - whether it be mental or in a swing that is not natural but which has been honed by hours of work on the range - in the player's armour.

Or is it just an indication of the high regard in which Harrington is held by the public at large, and not just the sporting or golfing public, that his failures seem to be taken so personally by everyone? The disappointment when he doesn't claim a tournament most people expect him to win is acute.

Harrington's mental toughness is such that he can walk away from a tournament as a runner-up and forget it. "As soon as I get back onto a golf course, my disappointment disappears," he insisted. And, indeed, his past deeds reflect that. Probably the most distressed that Harrington has been after failing to land a title was in the World Matchplay at Wentworth two years ago: he looked visibly shaken afterwards - and, yet, within a month he was claiming the Volvo Masters the hard way, holing a long birdie putt on the last green to win by a shot.

Moreover, that Volvo Masters triumph came at a time when there were serious question marks about Harrington's ability to close out tournaments. "The word choker even came into my own mind," he conceded.

He had had no fewer than seven second place finishes that season before he won in Spain, and he remarked at the time: "With all the second place finishes, something different happened at different times. Do you know, there are actually times when second place is actually good. There are times when somebody would play well to beat me. There are times when I would be the one to make mistakes. Sometimes I push too hard, sometimes it just isn't there."

An analysis of Harrington's number of second places - 19 in all - suggests that it really is swings and roundabouts. For instance, he shot a 64 in the closing round of the Murphy's Irish Open in 2001 but still finished five shots behind Colin Montgomerie (effectively grabbing an unlikely runner-up placing), whereas that World Matchplay final defeat to Woosie, when he was so comfortably in control, was most definitely one that got away.

Also, there were questions about his decision to go "down the shaft on a six-iron" with his approach to the last, which was pulled into the water, in last year's European Open at the K Club. He lost by a shot to Michael Campbell, who lurched over the line with a run of four closing bogeys.

However, since Harrington lost to Woosnam for his 16th runners-up finish in his professional career, he has improved his strike-rate no end and, in fact, has more wins than second places in that time. All he can hope is that the manner of his defeat on Sunday - when he missed from inside 10 feet on no fewer than seven occasions on the back nine - does not threaten a relapse into those times when he was perceived more often as the bridesmaid.

The critical phase on Sunday came when he missed a two-footer for his par on the ninth green. "I thought I'd done all the hard work when I rolled a putt from 60 feet up two tiers to just a couple of feet - and then I just got complacent over the putt," he remarked.

Given his decision to miss out on next week's Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth because he dislikes the condition of the course, and especially the greens, at this time of the year, Harrington heads to this week's €2.7 million Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe in Germany in the knowledge that the players will probably face the worst greens of the season.

David Garland, the European Tour's director of operations, who made a special visit to the course to ascertain the current position after a severe attack of Fusarium patch disease which has affected all 18 greens, said: "The disease is still very much in evidence and will not grow out by the tournament. The course set-up has been softened to compensate for the weak greens and to have a level of consistency in the roughs. The selection of pin positions during the week will be located in the areas of green least affected by disease."

Harrington won't be the only one to dislike the condition of the greens. Although Ernie Els has pulled out of the event because of problems with his wrist injury, Tiger Woods - reappearing for the first time since the US Masters - defends his title. The world number one has spent much of the past month starring in a number of television commercials for sponsors, including AmEx, Buick, EA Sports and Nike, "which is fun but exhausting work".

There is a strong Irish representation in Hamburg, with Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Ronan Rafferty, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane joining Harrington for the tournament which offers €450,000 to the winner.

Irish positions in Order of Merit: 3, P Harrington €529,754; 14, D Clarke €257,206; 22, P Lawrie €204,129; 30, P McGinley €169,341; 96, G Murphy €55,650; 147, G McDowell €26,800; 168, D McGrane €21,331.