Harrington in race to get in the swing

European Tour finale: Padraig Harrington doesn't normally make such a radical change in such a short time-frame. "Whoever's in the hotel room next to me is going to hear a good deal of whishing from my clubs," he remarked, a reference to the fact every spare minute will be utilised in an effort to feel comfortable with his swing once he stands on the first tee tomorrow for the European Tour's season-ending €4 million Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

You see, the Dubliner has been hitting balls on the range for hours; which, in itself, is nothing out of the ordinary. He's a range rat by nature. In close attendance is his coach, Bob Torrance, who suggested the improvisation that has Harrington attempting to stand closer to the ball, but so he does it automatically and not that it feels as if he is swinging 10 clubs at once. It's just that such changes don't usually take place in the run-up to a tournament.

"This is something we do all the time, make changes (to the swing), but normally you'd give yourself over a week to do it. We're trying to do it in a day and a half, and that's a really short time," he said.

In some ways, it would seem that the world's number 13 ranked player is really looking ahead to future weeks before the full impact is witnessed.

Although this is the official end to the European Tour season, Harrington still has four further tournaments to play - the Tour Championship (in the US), the HSBC Championship (in China), the World Cup (in Portugal) and the Target World Challenge (in the US) - before taking his traditional nine-week winter break.

So, is it a case of sacrificing this week to get his game right for the weeks ahead? After all, Valderrama (apart from a fifth place finish in the AmEx in 2000) hasn't always been kind to him.

"Well, it's a course I've never played well on . . . and I'm coming in on crappy form. I'd do my best, I'll be trying my best, (but) I'm more hopeful of getting my game right for East Lake (the Tour Championship in America).

"This is a short, tight course and it suits guys who hit lots of fairways and lots of greens. It's a struggle to get up and down around these greens."

The thing is, who knows with Harrington this year? By his own admission, his form has been "erratic," entirely understandable given a year when his father passed away, and, standing on the range yesterday, he reflected that it was "a year that wasn't great, was it? You're always striving for consistency."

Yet, even with the inconsistency, it did produce two wins on the US Tour - in the Honda Classic and the Barclays Classic - and another two in Ireland, in the JP McManus Pro-Am and the Irish PGA Championship. All of which prompted him to suggest yesterday that, maybe, when he looks back on the season in the future, he will view it entirely differently.

"Perhaps I'll see it as a good season in two years' time, what with winning twice in America," said Harrington, one of six Irish players - along with Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane - in the 55-man field where the money title will be decided, lying as it does between Colin Montgomerie and Michael Campbell.

Indeed, despite the inconsistent nature of his form and the tweaking with his set-up, Harrington - currently 33rd in the Order of Merit - remarked: "I feel the same way this week as I've felt all year, which is good about my game. I keep feeling good about it, even though I've been erratic. I know that I haven't putted well.

"Even in Westchester (where he holed a 65 footer for eagle to win the Barclays), I was way down the putting stats. I've been hard working on it, but I've not spent enough time holing putts. Sometimes, the answers find themselves."

Who knows? Maybe limited expectations could prove to be a good thing for Harrington this week. Certainly, on the evidence of the time he spent on the range yesterday working with Torrance, whom he had to coerce into taking a lunch break (while Harrington briefly retreated to the putting green before resuming his work on the range with a clutch of different drivers), the work ethic is as strong as it ever was.

You point out that, traditionally, Harrington has been a strong finisher to the year.

"Yes, but it hasn't kicked in yet . . . I'd a chance at the Dunhill Links, and on the Wednesday of the American Express (the day before the tournament started), I was playing some of my best golf of the season. I've spent a lot of the season playing good golf on the Wednesdays."

Harrington, more than anyone, knows that's the wrong day to be hot.

Now, if only the change in set-up can be achieved in time.

Valderrama Tee-off times

FIRST ROUND

(Irish and Brit unless stated, all times Local; +1hr from BST: (x) denotes amateurs).

Starting at hole One: 09:40 - Damien McGrane. 09:50 - Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Richard Finch. 10:00 - Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa). 10:10 - Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Simon Dyson. 10:20 - Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Peter Lawrie. 10:30 - Barry Lane, Pierre Fulke (Swe). 10:40 - Stephen Gallacher, Richard Green (Aus). 10:50 - Gregory Havret (Fra), Paul Lawrie. 11:00 - Simon Khan, Peter Gustafsson (Swe). 11:10 - Richard Sterne (Rsa), Jean Van de Velde (Fra). 11:20 - Paul Casey, Peter Hedblom (Swe). 11:30 - Robert Karlsson (Swe), Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 11:40 - Graeme McDowell, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra). 11:50 - Soren Hansen (Den), Anders Hansen (Den). 12:00 - Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood. 12:10 - Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Graeme Storm 12:20 - David Lynn, Steve Webster. 12:30 - Paul Broadhurst, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra). 12:40 - Peter Hanson (Swe), Maarten Lafeber (Ned). 12:50 - Ian Poulter, Nick O'Hern (Aus). 13:00 - Darren Clarke, Stephen Dodd. 13:10 - Bradley Dredge, Nick Dougherty. 13:20 - Luke Donald, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa). 13:30 - Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Niclas Fasth (Swe). 13:40 - Sergio Garcia (Spa), Kenneth Ferrie. 13:50 - Henrik Stenson (Swe), Paul McGinley. 14:00 - David Howell, Angel Cabrera (Arg). 14:10 - Michael Campbell (Nzl), Colin Montgomerie .