GOLF: PHILIP REIDon how Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell are both in the mix to land Ireland's first Masters

THERE WAS a time, for 60 years to be precise, when it all seemed like an elusive dream. In those six decades, Irish golfers were engaged in quests to emulate Fred Daly – the only Irishman to have claimed one of golf’s four Majors when he won the Claret Jug in 1947 – and, each year, the mission became more impossible than the last. Then, it all changed. Firstly, Pádraig Harrington found a way. Three times. And then Graeme McDowell managed to win a Major.

So, for this golden generation of Irish players on tour, no less than three Major championships have been annexed in recent years: Dubliner Harrington brought home the British Open’s Claret Jug – in 2007 and again in 2008 – and the Wanamaker Trophy as US PGA Champion, in 2008; and Ulsterman McDowell took home the US Open Trophy in 2010. The two have brought more glory to Irish golf in what seems like a nanosecond compared to all the years of want that went before them.

Now, only one box remains to be checked: the US Masters, where the winner is traditionally gifted a Green Jacket. Next Thursday, Ireland’s two modern Major champions will go in search of that last missing link and, with much of their early-season travels undertaken with one eye on the examination posed by Augusta National, there is no shortage of self-belief (from either of them) going into the season’s first Major.

Last Tuesday, McDowell paid a reconnaissance trip to the course with Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson. The word is Poulter and Stenson were the ones required to make a detour to the ATM machine afterwards to pay over the winnings to G-Mac.

For a player who arrived down Magnolia Lane in 2005 for his first Masters with, as he put it, all the knowhow of “a deer caught in the headlights”, McDowell has transformed his game to the point where he has genuine aspirations of contending around Amen Corner and beyond if he gets into the mix in that final round.

Likewise, Harrington – whose last win on either the US Tour or European Tour was his US PGA victory at Oakland Hills, with only a win in last year’s Johor Open in Malaysia breaking that barren spell – is of the opinion his past Major successes could form an important tool in his armoury down the stretch.

Ireland’s two Major champions have quite contrasting experiences of Augusta National: Harrington has had two top-five finishes, in 2002 and 2008, in his 11 appearances; McDowell has missed the cut twice in his three previous visits, with a top finish of tied-17th in 2009.

In that context, McDowell’s reconnaissance mission earlier this week was worthwhile. “It was a busy day but a really good day reminding ourselves what the golf course looked like . . . my memories (of competing) are not outstanding, because I don’t have much to show for myself. I have only made one cut. In 2005, I played with Ben Crenshaw in the first round and I was very lost on the greens and in awe of the place,” he said.

Of course, things have changed since then. He is a Major champion and emerged from the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor as the match-winning hero. More pertinently, he has married the experience of the US Open and the Ryder Cup with work on his short game, an area he pinpointed as requiring work if he were ever to contend in the Masters.

“I think my short game now is getting to the point where I have confidence going into the (Augusta) greens.

“In the past, I have been a little scared to miss greens in the wrong places. But I am learning all the time and I go in with an open mind. My past performances there are irrelevant and I feel like I am nearly going in there as a rookie but a rookie who knows a hell of a lot more about the golf course than I did six years ago,” said McDowell, who has abandoned the notion of using two drivers – one to draw the ball, the other to fade – for the tournament.

And going back as a Major champion is also something to be factored in. “The thing I can most take away (from winning the US Open) is confidence and a belief in myself. If I can get myself into position come the weekend, then I have the ability to do the job. This will be my last Major I will play as US Open champion apart from defending at Congressional (in June) and it is nice to have that belief . . . the confidence is there for sure and I am going in very relaxed, with zero expectations, and plan to enjoy the week and to play the course as well as I can. I know if I play my best, I’ve got a good chance.”

Without a doubt, there is a huge difference between the Graeme McDowell who first competed in the Masters in 2005 and even the one who missed the cut last year and the player who will stand on the first tee next Thursday.

“I think I go armed with a better short game, that’s been something I have concentrated hard on for the last few months . . . I am feeling like a guy who can go there and contend!”

Harrington, too, approaches Augusta with a confidence at odds with his early-season form. Although the Johor Open last October was his last win anywhere, Harrington won’t be going back to that one for winning memories.

“Johor wasn’t pretty coming down the stretch, I can tell you that. I certainly wouldn’t be calling on Johor, I’d be looking more to the Majors and the fact that I’ve gone and won them. I’d relish the opportunity. If I can get into contention with nine holes to go, I’d look forward to that, to the fact I’ve done it and proved it in the past and done it in different ways . . . we all know anything can happen over those (closing) nine holes and, with the experience of having been there and done it in so many varied ways, I understand there’s many ways to win a tournament.”

According to Harrington, Augusta National is the most “intimidating” golf course on tour all year. And that, he points out, should play to his strengths. “At times, you think this golf course is as tough as can be . . . . but if you take the attitude that everyone else must be thinking that, and that these conditions – fast greens, difficult chip shots, (need for) imagination – are elements that suit my game, I have to look on it as an advantage.”

If not you, who?

Graeme McDowell: "I think Rory McIlroy is ready for a big week. His game is absolutely tailor-made – he drives the ball unbelievable, which is key for Augusta. If he can get hot with a putter, he can have a great week. I played with Bubba Watson last week and he impressed the hell out of me. He is moving the ball from right to left, he drives it so good. I think Augusta suits left-handers really well. If Bubba can get his putter behaving itself, he has got a great chance . . . Mickelson looks like his game is simmering nicely, ticking over, and he prepares so well for the Majors."

Pádraig Harrington: "Everyone looks for an edge and Phil Mickelson would swear that because he's a left-hander, this golf course suits him no end and he has a big advantage. Whether he does or he doesn't, he's convincing himself he does.

“Plus, I’ve heard Phil talk about the course and say it plays to his short game, that it plays to his imagination, that it plays to his ability, if he hits a wild tee shot, to recover . . . it goes back to the old Gary Player one, that no matter what golf course and greens you turn up on, you see it in your favour.

“So Phil has certainly convinced himself Augusta is the most suitable course in the world for him to play golf on.”