GOLF:PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON, who won two of his three majors while Tiger Woods was out injured in 2008, has fallen from third in the world to 57th since then.
But, far from feeling down in the dumps with the British Open only two weeks away and no Woods in the field again, Harrington is excited.
For the first time since 1999 the Dubliner is warming up at the Scottish Open rather than at home and after his first look at the spectacular new Castle Stuart lay-out near Inverness he is already sure he has done the right thing.
“I’m here because it’s on a links course, but who knows until you get out there yourself?” said Harrington today.
“It’s way above expectations – and a great set-up for next week. It’s fantastic that we get that opportunity to enjoy this style of golf because it’s really different to what we are used to and takes a lot of getting used to.
“I cannot emphasise how different it is hitting an iron shot off the turf on a links course rather than on a standard parkland course. Some go further and some go shorter because of the turf.”
Harrington’s recent form is nothing to write home about, but he added: “I believe I’m getting there – I’m excited about my game. I’m looking forward to the challenge this week. Obviously if you are not in contention you are thinking about getting your game ready for the Open, but if on Sunday I have a chance this is a big enough tournament that I’d put all my effort into this and forget about next week.
“I’ve won the Irish Open and the Open. It would be nice to have another one of the home nation titles.”
As for his ranking positions, he stated: “I’m not a person who thinks he should be top 10, top five. Nobody deserves it by right – you are what you are.
“There is room for improvement. I fully believe I’ve got lots of room to go forward and I will go forward. It’s interesting – you don’t look at it (the ranking) when you are going backwards as much as when you’re going forwards. I haven’t looked in a long time!”
Luke Donald and Lee Westwood are battling for the world number one spot again at Inverness.
Donald took over at the top of the rankings at the end of May by beating Westwood in a play-off for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
They will change places again if the Worksop golfer takes the title on Sunday and a finish in the top five could be good enough depending on where Donald comes.
Americans Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar are the next highest-ranked players in the field at sixth and eighth, but even a victory would take them no higher than fifth.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s number one Martin Laird has declared himself happy to be back in Europe – not just for two huge events, but also for a break from wedding preparations.
The US-based 28-year-old, the first Scot to make the world’s top 25 since Colin Montgomerie, is getting married in Colorado a fortnight after next week’s British Open.
“Obviously that’s the biggest weekend of the year. You only get married once – hopefully!” said Laird.
“We’re really looking forward to that, but it’s kind of nice to be over here and play a couple of really good tournaments and get away from all the wedding details.”
First comes the Scottish Open, which after more than a decade at Loch Lomond switches back to a links course, the spectacular new Castle Stuart lay-out.
It is only for the last two years that the Glaswegian, who went to college in the States and stayed there, has earned himself a place in the Open and he missed the cut at both Turnberry and St Andrews – the second of those after a second-round 83.
He is hoping for much better this time.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)