EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS:THERE ARE some golfers who can't wait to lock their clubs away in a cupboard as soon as the rawness of winter descends. Pádraig Harrington, for sure, is not one of them.
And, although the Dubai World Championship – where he finished tied-fourth alongside Geoff Ogilvy, some nine shots adrift of winner Lee Westwood – represented his last serious foray onto a golf course for this year, the Dubliner left the desert on a private jet last evening with his mind already moving on to more tinkering with his swing.
In fact, Harrington will complete his season’s work in the Tiger Woods-promoted Chevron championship in California in a fortnight’s time which is a non-US Tour event but one which carries world ranking points.
While Harrington will be doing his best to win that out-of-season money fest, the visit to the west coast has a secondary mission. Harirngton will be bringing his coach Bob Torrance with him on the trip, which will also incorporate visits to the Titleist Performance Institute where the player will be put through a series of tests aimed at developing his game for next season’s assault on the majors.
“I’ve got plenty of work on going into the winter, and I’m keen to get into it. I can’t wait for next year. In my mind, I’m possibly on my break because I’m starting to tinker a bit and certainly the week of the Chevron there’s two sides to it. I’m bringing Bob, we’re going to the TPI and also I’ll have plenty of friends there. So, it’s not all about the golf that week.”
Of his finish in Dubai, where he shot a final round 68 for 274, 14-under-par, Harrington – who earned prize money of €224,282 and also claimed bonus pool money of €84,728 – admitted to a degree of satisfaction.
“Yeah, the golf game was good. I changed something this week, and never felt very comfortable when I was chipping. So, I was very pleased overall with the short game and I look forward to working on that in the winter and to see if I can get more comfortable. It certainly improved my strike. I think that’s something I can improve on going into next year . . . there’s a number of things I am taking away from this season, some technical stuff and obviously a lot of mental stuff. I’ll work on that during the winter,” said Harrington.
Gareth Maybin completed his “rookie” season with another solid performance, the Ulsterman finishing with a 70 for 284, four-under, that left him 53rd on the Order of Merit. Maybin has decided to play in the two tournaments in South Africa before Christmas, which are co-sanctioned on the European Tour’s 2010 schedule.
Graeme McDowell – who finished with a 68 for 285, three-under – moves on to China for this week’s World Cup at Mission Hills where he will partner Rory McIlroy.
“I’d a slow start (to the tournament), it took me 27 holes to get a hang of the greens. It was disappointing to start with a 76 (on Thursday), it just killed me and killed all the momentum for the week.” He added: “Overall, it’s been a frustrating few months for me. The game has been there or thereabouts and ticking over, but I have just not been squeezing everything out of it. That’s golf, I suppose. So, that’s the end of the individual stuff for the year for me and though the World Cup is a completely different mindset, I am happy with the way I’m swinging the club (going to China).”
Lee not that sympathetic for Rory
Lee Westwood leapfrogged his ISM-stable mate Rory McIlroy to snatch the Harry Vardon trophy from the grasp of the young Ulsterman in the last counting tournament of the season . . . . but he didn't see much point in extending any sympathy to the player he leapfrogged.
"What's he got gong for him? 20 years old . . . millionaire already . . . hits it miles . . . nice-looking girlfriend . . . drives a Lamborghini. Yeah, it's hard (on him), isn't it?"
On a more serious note, Westwood made the observation that McIlroy could one day be the world's number one.
"He's a talent. There are a few parts of his game where he needs to sharpen up. But, for 20? Mark O'Meara said he is better than Tiger was at that age. I didn't see Tiger too much at that age, but Rory's as good as I've seen for a long time."
Of the significance of wearing a red shirt – just as he did when winning the Porutgal Masters last month – Westwood claimed it had nothing to do with copying a certain Mr Woods who traditionally wears that hue in the final round. "It's the same shirt as Nottingham Forest wear," he said.
Tryin to get the message across
You can't beat pressing the flesh when it comes to getting your message across, and 3 – sponsors of the Irish Open which next year moves to the August bank holiday weekend – have taken the initiative in the quest to snare the top players.
Robert Finnegan, the chief executive of 3, and former tour player John McHenry, who is a consultant in promoting the Irish Open, visited Dubai to personally meet as many players as possible.
Apart from meeting and greeting on the range, 3 came up with the idea of presenting a memory stick with spectacular images of the Killeen course in Killarney where the tournament will be staged to each player after they finished their final round along with a personal letter from Finnegan.
1 Tiger Woods 15.93pts
2 Phil Mickelson 8.95
3 Steve Stricker 7.20
4 Lee Westwood 6.81
5 Paul Casey 5.82
6 Pádraig Harrington 5.82
7 Henrik Stenson 5.49
8 Sergio Garcia 5.18
9 Kenny Perry 5.17
10 Rory McIlroy 5.12
RACE TO DUBAI
(last season in parentheses)
1 (3) Lee Westwood (Eng) €3,776,702
2 (36) Rory McIlroy (N Ire) €3,217,257
3 (8) Martin Kaymer (Ger) €2,552,707
4 (6) Ross Fisher (Eng) €2,255,795
5 (21) Paul Casey (Eng) €2,105,863
6 (-) Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) €1,963,152
7 (11) Oliver Wilson (Eng) €1,791,457
8 (55) Simon Dyson (Eng) €1,611,072
9 (19) Ian Poulter (Eng) €1,580,519
10 (9) Sergio Garcia (Spa) €1,480,097
15 Pádraig Harrington (Ire) €1,308,491
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)