There was a time when we wondered if Ronan Rafferty was over-cautious in pursuit of golf's glittering prizes, given the frequency with which he filled the minor placings. When compared with the recent form of Padraig Harrington (right), however, Rafferty emerges as a very significant achiever on the tournament circuit.

In the Portuguese Open last Sunday, Harrington brought his total of runner-up placings in Europe to 12 since Lee Westwood finished ahead of him in the Volvo Masters of 1997. During the same period, he has added a modest two tournament victories to a Spanish Open triumph of 1996, his first season on tour.

Interestingly, Rafferty has also been runner-up in 12 European Tour events, but over the considerably longer period of nine years, from 1986 to 1995. And during that time, he had seven tournament victories, including such notable wins as the Volvo Masters and the European Masters.

In the wake of events at Quinta do Lago, Harrington seemed to take comfort from the fact that he experienced similar fortunes during his amateur career. But deep down, he is bound to be concerned at failing so often to finish the job, especially when it has become so difficult to claim a challenging position after 54 holes.

Jack Nicklaus, who had 70 wins and 58 second-place finishes on the USPGA Tour, often talked about the key objective being "to get yourself into a winning position." And he would add: "If I could manage to get into that position, I always felt I would know what to do." In other words, superb competitive instincts would see him through.

Arnold Palmer achieved an even better success ratio, with 60 wins and 38 seconds. But it will come as no surprise that Greg Norman's balance sheet was tilted very much the other way, with 18 wins and 31 seconds outdoing even Tom Kite (19, 29). And currently, there are several, leading players following a similar route.

Like, for instance, Tom Lehman whose second-place finish in Hawaii last January, was his 13th on the US Tour, where he has had only five victories. And when Davis Love lost a play-off to Phil Mickelson in the Buick Invitational in February, he was recording his 19th second, against 13 wins. And Justin Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion has been runner-up 11 times, with five wins.

Harrington may argue that his second places are a reflection of splendid consistency. And didn't they get him into the 1999 Ryder Cup? But it depends on how high his sights are set.

Many observers, including his coach Bob Torrance, are convinced he has the talent to win a major championship. But except in rare cases like Paul Lawrie's triumph at Carnoustie, an ascending level of achievement normally precedes a major breakthrough. In that context, the gifted Dubliner has yet to advance towards the middle rungs of the ladder.

"Where it was is the ultimate goal. And if you've never been there, you don't know where it is."

- The inimitable Fred Couples, on being asked about his determination to get his game back to where it was.