Life goes on as Augusta beckons

Golfing life goes on, and so it was that Padraig Harrington yesterday morning took the shuttle from Jacksonville airport to Atlanta to start all over again.

On Thursday, he tees up in the BellSouth Classic and, then, next week sets his sights on the US Masters at Augusta, which - not surprisingly - has been the tournament at the focus of all his early-season preparations.

For someone who spent so much of the winter in hibernation, his season has well and truly started in earnest.

"I'm going to take a lot of confidence form Sawgrass," insisted Harrington, "especially to have turned things around the way I did after six holes (in the final round). I keep saying I seem to be doing the right thing, that my swing seems to be developing, and that things are going in the right direction. I'm doing something right."

While other players have been playing since the first week in January, with Vijay Singh for example having already played in nine tournaments and Darren Clarke in eight, Harrington is one who sticks to his own schedule and plays tournaments on courses which he believes fits his eye. Which is why the course in Atlanta, although one of the longest on the US Tour, has been retained in his schedule this week despite missing the cut there last year.

One other reason for Harrington's light schedule to date is, quite simply, that "it is a long year, that's realistically it," he insisted. "You've got to play from this day through to the Ryder Cup and I don't want to come out too early in the year and be tired halfway through it. I'd like to have played one or two more events by now, but you have to make a little sacrifice now so that you're still fresh come September."

While Harrrington continues a competitive schedule in his build-up to the Masters, Darren Clarke has opted to miss out on Atlanta, instead deciding to play in the made-for-TV Tavistock Cup match in Lake Nona yesterday and today and then staying on in Isleworth to prepare for the season's first major.

Meanwhile, John Daly got into the field for the US Masters by remaining in the top 10, in 10th spot, on the US Tour money list.

He would have been out if Kenny Perry had finished in second place on his own.