Relaxed and ready to take on the challenge

You can picture his mind, that of the analytical accountant, racing at a million miles an hour. You can imagine him assessing every nuance and quirk of a course that managed to stay out of his reach when he was the country's top amateur. He's like a man who has discovered a new friend, and wondered why it took so long.

He sits there, fielding questions from the pressmen, and gives a disarmingly no-nonsense analysis of the course; of what it will take to conquer to beast, of what it's like to be an Irishman with the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders this week.

Padraig Harrington - outer demeanour, calm; inner being, whirling - is glad to have found Ballybunion. "It's fantastic. Of course, I had heard that it was ranked in the top 10 in the world but you never quite know how those things come about. You're better off picking your own ranking, and Ballybunion is well up there," he enthused.

"And the reason it is way up there is because it tests everything."

Irony of ironies, however, Harrington also feels that it is a course that probably would have suited him more five years ago when his short game, by his own assessment, was sharper than it is now. "My game's changed a hell of a lot since then. Like everyone else, I'm struggling out there," admitted Harrington after playing in the ProAm. "You've got to play good golf tee-to-green, got to be a good chipper, got to have terrific imagination."

But like a masochist, the prospect of the punishment that the course will undoubtedly inflict is one that appeals to him. "It is a real challenge," he agreed. "I think everyone is looking forward to it. Some weeks you are looking at a 20-under-par winning total and everyone looks good. But this is a true test of golf."

This week reminds him of a throw-back to his amateur days. For one thing, he's staying in a local bed and breakfast. And, although there is the added pressure of being one of the favourites, he's also away from the madding crowds and able to relax. "There's not as much demand on my time as, say, if the tournament was in Druids Glen. There were a lot of familiar faces in the crowd (when the event was staged there) and it drains you.

"You know, I admire Colin Montgomerie and Tiger Woods because they are always under this pressure. I only get it at a few tournaments, so it's not so bad for me."

Harrington is a player who has learnt how to focus. His grounding in amateur championships - ironically, his participation on a British and Irish youths' team in 1991 was the reason he missed out on the Irish Close here that year - has helped him to put things into context: "I remember a time when we had to play a 600-yards par five straight into a very strong wind and we were falling off the back of the tee-box."

If such conditions were to appear today or tomorrow or the next day, the European Tour would simply move the tee forward. It's all to do with equity and fairness. And Harrington believes that the course, although tough, is fair.

Since Christmas, Harrington has jumped 25 places in the world rankings. He has moved from someone on the fringes of the top 50 into someone inside the top 25. Goal after goal has been reached. An Irish Open title is another of his career goals. Maybe it will happen this week. Maybe it won't. But one thing is certain, Harrington will be back to Ballybunion. "I can see why Tom Watson has been coming here. There's no better venue for sharpening up your game."