SO THIS is what it's like to stand in the shadows. Pádraig Harrington has traversed the globe for much of the year but failed to win on tour, either on the access-all-areas European Tour or the US Tour.
Now, with time running out to amend that barren statistic, the 38-year-old Dubliner has targeted this end-of-season money-fest in the desert.
Last week, his body tiring from it all, Harrington took a week's holiday with his family. He needed it, and hardly went near a golf club.
His year's work, however, finishes in two weeks with the Tiger Woods-promoted Chevron tournament in the States. But, more pertinently, this €5 million Dubai World Championship - €830,675 to the winner plus a wad of bonus-pool cash for those inside the top-15 on the Order of Merit - offers the opportunity for a kind of redemption.
Harrington's only victory this season came in the Irish PGA championship in mid-summer, and he is hungry, but not desperate, for a win.
"I know I can't push it any harder than I have . . . . I'm not as fussed (about winning) as I was a couple of months ago. I sat down, thought about it and came to the conclusion that the majors are important to me. They are the key.
"I'm hitting the gym hard. I'm doing quite a bit of work. That's not the scenario when you are trying to win the next week . . . But I'm not like I was in the first six months of the year, just totally into one side of it, totally into my golf swing. At the moment I'm preparing everything so I can get into it in a couple of weeks."
Yet, despite all the hoopla about his poor performances and missed cuts in the first half of the season and his near-misses in the second, and despite casting an eye ahead to the work he will resume on his swing and in the gym over the winter, Harrington sees this course and championship as a chance to finish the season in some style.
"I'm interested," admitted Harrington, having played the course yesterday for the first time. "I like what I see in the golf course, and that's encouraging for me. This is a golf course that suits my game, it plays to my strengths and I see it as a great opportunity.
"I'm trying not to push too hard, which has been a bit of a flaw over the last few weeks . . ."
But, in tailing off, you know his mind is ready for a last hurrah.
The perfect ending? "I hope Rory wins the Order of Merit and I hope I win the tournament. I'd take that right now. Both of us would be happy with that."
And the smile on Harrington's face offered the hope it isn't a mere pipe dream.
Earth Course Tee-times
(Irish in bold, British unless stated, times Irish)
03.40: J Donaldson, B Dredge
03.50: D McGrane, Liang W-c (Chi)
04.00: T Aiken (Rsa), G Maybin
04.10: D Willett, L Donald
0420: N Fasth (Swe), J Kingston (Rsa)
04.30: G Storm, J Rose
04.40: D Drysdale, G Bourdy (Fra)
04.50: P Hedblom (Swe), S Webster
05.00: C Wood, P Lawrie
05.10: A Scott (Aus), A Wall
05.25: S Strange (Aus), R Sterne (Rsa)
05.35: R Cabrera-Bello (Spa), JM Singh (Ind)
05.45: R Jacquelin (Fra), L Oosthuizen
(Rsa)
05.55: J Edfors (Swe), G McDowell
06.05: N Dougherty, C Villegas (Col)
06.15: R McGowan, T Levet (Fra)
06.25: R Rock, A Noren (Swe)
06.35: R Goosen (Rsa), C Schwartzel
(Rsa)
06.45: MA Jimenez (Spa), R Allenby (Aus)
06.55: A Hansen (Den), A Quiros (Spa)
07.10: S Hansen (Den), P Harrington
07.20: T Jaidee (Thai), H Stenson (Swe)
07.30: P Hanson (Swe), G
Fernandez-Castano (Spa)
07.40: S Garcia (Spa), F Molinari (Ita)
07.50: S Kjeldsen (Den), E Els (Rsa)
08.00: I Poulter, S Dyson
08.10: O Wilson, G Ogilvy (Aus)
08.20: R Fisher, M Kaymer (Ger)
08.30: L Westwood, R McIlroy
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