The rumour mill has been whirling out the possibility that Pádraig Harrington might tempted to throw his name into the hat for the Presidency.
He’s not! Not this year, at any rate.
“I’ve heard it, people have been asking me about it,” admitted Harrington ahead of the Amgen Irish Open at The K Club, where he is making a 30th career appearance in the DP World Tour tournament. “But, no, I’m very busy doing what I am doing.”
Harrington – who turned 54 last month – is still combining playing on the Champions Tour as well as the DP World Tour and occasionally the PGA Tour and has won two senior majors this season, the US Seniors Open and the Senior Open, which means he will play in three of the four majors next season, just missing out on the Masters with eligibility into the US Open, US PGA and the Open.
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As for thoughts of heading to the Aras in the Phoenix Park at any point?
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“It’s an incredibly big, incredible honour, obviously, for anybody to become to President of Ireland, but a very difficult job. Being a statesman is tough. You know, not having your own opinions, as you know, I have a lot of opinions, so not having your own opinions is not great, and not being able to leave the country wouldn’t be great for me either, playing 30 golf events a year.
“So it’s not on my radar, for sure, but it would be an incredible honour for whoever becomes President and following, actually, in the footsteps of [Michael D Higgins], there’s a tough act to follow. We’ve done very well with our presidents over the last 30 years or so, for sure. I suppose, more than that. But the ones in recent times are the ones I remember, and they’d be brilliant
“But, no, no truth in the rumour ... that’s my first denial, to confirm or deny!”
