Harrington waits to deliver

US PGA: It's a good job Padraig Harrington doesn't take his psychological pep talks from the media scrum which, increasingly these days, crowds around him in the run-up to a major.

As Europe's number one player in the world rankings, he's a bit like the honey jar surrounded by buzzing bees . . . only yesterday, the questioner wasn't into simple pleasantries.

"You look gaunt," was the matter-of-fact shot aimed at Harrington, who comes in at 12 st 4 lb on the scales, which the Dubliner considers to be his fighting weight.

"No, not gaunt," replied Harrington. "More like lean and mean. This is my proper weight."

Indeed, Harrington would attest that he has never been fitter as his fitness regime has combined with a dietary programme to give him his desired conditioning.

What Harrington would have liked, though, coming in to his fifth US PGA Championship this week was a bit more sharpness, the kind that can only come from playing tournaments.

"It's not been an ideal build-up," he conceded. His last event was three weeks ago - when he missed the cut in the Irish Open - and, so, he has endeavoured to make up for it by arriving early and playing serious practice rounds. Yesterday, this involved an all-Irish threeball with Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke.

The reason for Harrington's stuttered build-up to this last major of the season was the uncertainty over the arrival of their first child, with wife Caroline now expected to give birth next week.

"Caroline went to the doctor on Friday before I came out and the doctor was of the opinion that, if anything, the birth will be late. So, there was no point in me waiting at home. I decided the worst thing was if I was sitting at home all the way through the PGA and nothing happened.

"It's not as if I am a 'new man' or anything. I'm not the type who will be in the delivery room with a video camera or anything like that . . . in fact, I'd be more likely to wait outside."

Still, Harrington will have his mobile phone left on, apart from when he is actually playing on the course, in case he should be summoned.

"These practice days are the worst because, obviously, if it happens when I am in the tournament I am a lot better able to decide whether I want to go home or not. If I get the call on Saturday and I'm doing well in the tournament, I'm going to hang around until Sunday. So I can't really make that decision until it happens."

Since their marriage in 1997, Caroline has attended every major that Harrington has played in the US (last month's British Open, in fact, was the first she had missed) and the player admits her presence is a comfort.

"It's often nice to just have 10 minutes to talk to her after I finish a round. She's someone who has a semi-independent view of how I have played. I mean, I'm biased and my caddie Dave (McNeilly) is biased. I could walk off the course saying I played well and was really happy with how I was swinging the club and Caroline would simply point out that things couldn't have been that good because I'd just shot 74. She can give me a kick up the backside when I need it."

Harrington, ranked ninth in the world and placed third on the European Tour Order of Merit, has not played up to his own standards in his last three tournaments: in the European Open, he was required to hole a 25-foot birdie putt on the 36th green simply to make the; in the British Open, only a final round 69 moved him up the field into a finishing position of tied-22nd, and in the Irish Open he missed the cut by a shot.

"The important thing for me this week is to get my mental sharpness right. I could have done with a warm-up tournament but it is now important to get my sharpness right and I can only do that by practising," he insisted.

Of all the majors, this is the one that has proven to be most elusive for European invaders. In fact, Tommy Armour, a Scot, back in 1930, is the last to have won.

"The fact no European has won in recent times doesn't add to the pressure. If anything, it takes it off. I would say traditionally that this event has been more like a regular US Tour event and the scores have been like tour courses rather than the extremes of, say, the US Open. It's been more a home turf for US players over the years . . . but, looking at a course like this, this is nobody's home turf. Nobody is particularly used to playing a course like this, certainly not week-in and week-out. I'd say it gives us foreigners a better chance."

Only time will tell if he's right.