Harrington heads strong Irish challenge

TOUR NEWS:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON returns to the circuit this week for the Volvo China Open more conscious than most of how a new generation of players are doing their thing.

Just less than a fortnight ago, he left Augusta National Golf Club with an injured neck that stubbornly tilted to one side and, also, with the proclamation that his experiment with the putting routine whereby he hovered the putter head over the ball was being consigned to the bin. A more orthodox routine will be in place for the remainder of the season.

Since Harrington departed Augusta on the Saturday, much has happened: Charl Schwartzel is golf’s newest Major champion; Rory McIlroy has picked himself up from the final round shenanigans in the Masters to get into the business end of proceedings in the Malaysian Open . . . and Italy’s Matteo Manassero, who celebrates his 18th birthday today, has reaffirmed his special talents.

His win in Malaysia, his second on tour, moved him up to 33rd position in the latest official world rankings.

Harrington, in fact, now finds himself behind the Italian teenager in the rankings.

Currently 38th in the world, the 39-year-old Dubliner – recovered from his neck injury – will be making only his second regular tournament appearance on the European Tour this season when he heads a seven-strong Irish contingent in Chengdu. Gareth Maybin, Peter Lawrie, Shane Lowry, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane and Michael Hoey are also competing.

Of the sextet of Irish players, two of them Harrington – in the 2004 Hong Kong Open – and McGrane, in the 2008 China Open, have previously won on Chinese soil. However, this tournament moves to a new course in Chengdu which is more noted as the breeding home of the Giant Panda.

Incidentally, world number five Graeme McDowell – who, like Harrington, missed the cut at the Masters – also returns to tournament action this week. In his case, the Ulsterman will be playing in The Heritage tournament at Hilton Head on the US Tour.

G-Mac, who finished bottom in putting at Augusta, will obviously be hoping that his feel on the greens returns for an event where he has been only an infrequent participant, last playing in 2006.

And Rory McIlroy’s third-place finish behind Manassero in Malaysia has moved him up two places to seventh in the world. He now takes a two-week break – part of which will take in discussions with his manager Chubby Chandler on what the rest of the season holds – before defending his title at the Wells Fargo championship in Quail Hollow, a tournament which starts a hectic stint on tour.

“I am disappointed with the result but everything else was positive,” said McIlroy.

“I am proud at how I picked myself up from last week. Matteo is fantastic. He is a great talent, to get two wins on the tour before your 18th birthday is pretty special.”

Manassero’s second tour win – adding the Malaysian Open to the Castellan Masters title he claimed last October – has confirmed his great talent. And, in moving up to 33rd in the latest rankings, it has also effectively confirmed his presence in the season’s three remaining Majors: the US Open at Congressional, the British Open at Royal St Georges and the US PGA at Atlanta.

Manassero, who missed out on the Masters after failing to break into the world’s top-50 in time, has returned home to Verona to celebrate his 18th birthday with family members and friends. It is hard to believe he is not yet a year in the professional ranks, and already has two wins on the European Tour to his name.

But turning 18 is another milestone of a different kind.

“It’s a big thing in anyone’s life, turning 18,” he said. “You get your car. You get your bank account. It will be a big difference for me travelling. It has been difficult travelling and only being 17. You can be alone sometimes, which isn’t easy. My mum and dad sometimes travel with me. If not, my physio comes once a month. Or my coach, Alberto Binaghi.

“So, it will be nice to turn 18. I couldn’t imagine anything better, going home to celebrate the birthday and my second win on the European Tour. It’s great to be able to celebrate both together.”

Manassero made his professional debut in May 2010 at the BMW Italian Open aged 17 years and 17 days and promptly became the youngest professional to make a European Tour cut, going on to finish 29th.

After playing in a handful of European Challenge Tour events, including finishing runner-up in the Rolex Trophy, Manassero was third in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland before his making history in Spain when he broke Danny Lee’s record as youngest Tour winner by more than a year.

He also shaved a record held by his idol Ballesteros, as the youngest full European Tour member by 12 days.

“Your first win is a great achievement and something you always remember,” he recalled. “You don’t really know when it is going to come so it is a tense moment. That helped me manage the pressure in Malaysia.

“I wasn’t as nervous on Sunday as I felt in Spain. Every single win helps you grow as a player. The first one helps you maybe more than the other ones.

“They were different victories. That first one was by four shots, my second was tight from the start to the finish but the feeling is the same because there is so much competition and many, many good players. So both had the same pleasure.”