Harrington joins elite

DOORS were positively flying open for Padraig Harrington yesterday, in the wake of a stunning victory in the Spanish Open in Madrid. Top of a list of lucrative opportunities is automatic entry into the $1.9 million Sarazen World Open at Chateau Elan, Georgia in October, in which Raymond Burns picked up $9,310 for a decidedly modest finish of tied 32nd last year.

Harrington, who has taken a dramatic leap from 485th to 180th in the Sony World Rankings, is also invited into the limited field for the £600,000 Lancome Tournament in September. Meanwhile, he is virtually certain to gain one of the five exempt places into this year's British Open after the Volvo PGA Championship at the end of the month.

Then there is the prospect of qualification for Ireland's two man World Cup team, which will be named after the British Open, and the three member Alfred Dunhill Cup side to be chosen after the Czech Open on August 19th. In the meantime, as a tournament winner, he moves from Category 12 (Tour which means he has European Tour exemption until the end of 1998. And as a little bonus, he will be exempted for life into the Spanish Open.

"Our hope and prayer for Padraig was that he would earn enough to retain his tour card at the end of the season," said his father and mentor, Paddy Harrington, yesterday. "Everything that has happened has been so unexpected, but for the last two years, Padraig was preparing himself for a professional career and I knew he was mentally ready."

His father, a former All Ireland footballer with Cork, introduced Padraig to golf as a five year old. "At the time, I was among a group of gardai who were working to the and knock Stackstown golf course into shape," he recalled. "During the summer months, Padraig and my other four sons would go up there with me. They loved the freedom of the place."

He went on "It was only when he was about 14 or 15 that I began to see he had something special as a golfer. What really struck me was his temperament. He never seemed to get ruffled, whatever happened. There wasn't even the question of cursing, to relieve frustration. `Good Judas' was all that came out of him if he hit a bad shot."

Harrington's run of nine successive cuts, culminating in a tournament victory, is the best by a tour rookie in 10 years. For comparable achievement, one has to go back to the 1986 season when the huge talent of Jose Maria Olazabal burst on the professional scene. But in terms of the European Tour, as currently constituted, the standard was set in 1982 by the player who, ironically, finished runner up to Harrington last Sunday.

On the way to being chosen as "Rookie of the Year" for 1982, Gordon Brand Jnr won two tournaments the Coral Classic and the Bob Hope British Classic and, with earnings of £40,120, he ended the season in seventh position in the Order of Merit. As it happened, that was also the debut season of Paul Way, who captured the 1982 Dutch Open.

But it was Olazabal who raised the standard for all who came after him, including Harrington. At 19, he led the tour school and having turned 20 on February 5th 1986, he went on to make 18 out of 19 cuts' that year, including victories in the Swiss Open and the Sanyo Open. While becoming the first rookie since Brand to win two tournaments in his debut season, he 50 under par to set a record average of 70.69 and ended the with earnings of £155,263 second place behind Seve Ballesteros in the Merit.

He then dismissed as fanciful suggestions that he was "a second Seve". Similarly, Harrington doesn't wish to be compared leading exponents of the game, at this stage of his development.

"I love the idea of improving I've always looked at how the players do things," he said yesterday. "But I've so much to learn. For that reason, I will be taking chance of watching Nick Faldo as much as I can during the next two weeks."

As to the major championships, Harrington said. "It's the dream off every professional to win majors, but for me to suggest that my target now was to win a major would be ridiculous. As long as I can look back at the end of my career and have no regrets, I'll be happy even if I don't win another tournament."

Since his promotion to Category 5, he takes his place among the entries for this week's Benson and Hedges International alongside compatriot Philip Walton, who won two tournaments last season. The other Irishmen in action are Ronan Rafferty, David Feherty, Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Raymond Burns.