Harrington tees-off

Padraig Harrington has chosen a globe-trotting route for the early part of his 2000 itinerary. Following his seasonal debut in this week's Heineken Classic at The Vines resort north of Perth in Western Australia, the Dubliner will cross the continent to compete in the Greg Norman International in Sydney next week.

Harrington will then play in Malaysia before taking a week off from his schedule to prepare for the Andersen Consulting Matchplay in California on February 24th-27th. It is almost two months since his last competitive appearance but Harrington spent last week practising in Portugal in preparation for his reappearance on the circuit and has chosen a familiar stomping ground.

Harrington finished runner-up in this tournament at The Vines two years ago and also shares the course record, while, ironically, Paul McGinley, the only other Irishman confirmed in the starting field, has also recorded a runners-up finish in this event.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez has been forced to withdraw from this week's tournament due to 'flu, but tour rookie Gary Murphy from Kilkenny will be hoping that one or two other players pull out. Murphy is second alternate behind Justin Rose. Meanwhile, greenkeepers are working overtime to try to repair a green which was vandalised ahead of the tournament. The damage to 60 per cent of the first green was made by someone joyriding in a stolen golf buggy who performed up to 30 circles on the putting surface.

Staff at the course are working to repair the damage in time for Thursday's start to the tournament which features Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Sweden's Jesper Parnevik, whose victory in last Sunday's Bob Hope Classic was worth $540,000 has indicated that he may restrict his activities to the US Tour this season. "As opposed to my normal limit of 15 to 20 events, it would be fun to play 25 American tournaments in one year." he said yesterday.