Harrington left to carry Irish hopes

A sign of the times we live in, and a spectacular contrast to just 12 months ago when three Irish players occupied places in the world's top-30, Padraig Harrington will be the lone Irishman in the field for this week's WGC-CA Championship over the Blue Monsters course at Doral in Florida, an $8 million tournament that has replaced the old American Express on the world golf championship schedule.

Harrington, still occupying 10th in the latest world rankings, will be Ireland's standard-bearer at Doral when he returns after a fortnight's break for a tournament that kick-starts his latest stint on the PGA Tour, a three-week stretch that will also take in next week's Houston Open followed by the US Masters at Augusta, where he will at least have Darren Clarke as a second Irishman in the field.

Clarke's last-gasp chance to get into the limited field for the CA Championship depended on a good performance in the Bay Hill Invitational, won by Vijay Singh. But Clarke, as he did in the Singapore Masters the previous week, missed the cut. The Dungannon man has now fallen to 65th in the latest world rankings, a freefall that has seen him drop from 40th at the start of the year. Clarke was ranked 17th in the world this time last season.

While Clarke must contemplate what he must do to start moving up the world rankings again, perhaps he can gain some inspiration from Singh, whose second win of the season - following his Mercedes Championship win in January - moved him up two places to seventh in the latest world rankings.

It was after a disappointing season for him last year, when he won just once, that Singh, already known as one of the hardest workers in the game, recommitted himself to a new regime. Not only was he determined to get into better shape physically, the Fijian also worked on the mental side of the game by putting his mind through exercises to channel swing keys that he had forgotten.

"Last year wasn't bad; I had quite a lot of top-10s (13). I thought I had a lot of chances to win last year, which I didn't capitalise on. That was the drawback. But I refocused. I've gone back to doing what I was practicing, (like) firing my hips, using my left hand to pull down . . . little things like that, they are simple, but if you don't practice them, you're going to lose the feel of the clubhead, and that's what I've been doing."

If ever there was a tournament Singh was destined to win, the Bay Hill Invitational was it. Arnold Palmer, the tournament's host, extended an invitation to Singh to play there in 1993, a decision which ultimately led to Singh forsaking the European Tour to play most of his golf on the PGA Tour. Sunday's win was his 31st win on the PGA Tour, but he has his eyes set on more titles.

"Obviously, I want to win the US Open. I haven't won that, and the British Open. Those are the things I would like to win, but, obviously, they are the hardest ones to win."

Incredibly, two-thirds of Singh's wins in America have come since he turned 40, four years ago. The reason? "Understanding the golf swing a lot better, that's a big part. I think the more you play, the more experience you get about playing golf tournaments . . . I just want to win. I just want to do it. I don't want to go out and just be part of the pack. I want to show up and be in contention. I want to contend to win golf tournaments. Last year, I wasn't contending. I came this year and I felt like I've got my swing back. I feel like I've got my game back."

While golf's top guns play in the WGC-CA Championship, including the top Europeans, and gear up to the Masters, the focus for others this week will be the Madeira Island Open where Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy and David Higgins comprise a small Irish contingent competing in the event.