Winning the mind games

US Masters:Dr Bob Rotella gets inside Padraig Harrington's head. It is, most probably, a fascinating place, a labyrinth of roads seeking to make sense of a journey that has taken the Irishman from the foothills of the Dublin mountains, where he learnt his craft on the hilly terrain of Stackstown Golf Club, to contending in golf's majors, be that at the links of Muirfield, the torture chamber of Bethpage or, perennially, the test that is Augusta National.

On Saturday afternoon, as Harrington ground his way around the course in the third round of the 71st Masters, he was alone with his caddie, Ronan Flood, inside the ropes. Outside, though, there was an army silently willing him on and, when appropriate, loudly encouraging the Dubliner's deeds as he fought to manoeuvre his way into contention in this most magical of majors.

Strangely, on this Saturday of cold winds, there was an eerie silence for much of the time. The course and the conditions made birdies and eagles a rarity and, as the average scores soared above 77 - in direct contrast to the weather which plummeted, and even sent some players into the professional shop to acquire more suitable clothing - Harrington's resilience in the face of adversity drew many admirers, and not just from the converted and sizeable Irish contingent.

These days, Harrington is Rotella's star pupil. And the doctor, who has written worldwide best-sellers to help ordinary club players to conquer golf's mind games, walked all 18 holes, mingling with Harrington's army of supporters that numbered GUI officials, a fellow pro (Noel Fox), relatives and a sizeable number of others who managed to get their hands on tickets. When Harrington rolled in a birdie on the long 13th, his first since the third hole, Rotella nodded approvingly. "Patience rewarded," he remarked.

As the cold wind blew away the Masters aspirations of many players, Harrington stuck to his task, shooting a 75 that moved him to four over, just two shots behind leader Stuart Appleby. Tiger Woods and Justin Rose were sandwiched in between the Aussie and Harrington.

But it was a day for Harrington, like many others, to keep his dreams of glory alive; and that is what he did, every par save as valuable a commodity as any birdie.

"It was a tough day," conceded Harrington. "On this course, you haver to have pinpoint accuracy at the best of times, so when you get difficult conditions it makes it very awkward. But, you know, I'm happy with that. I stuck in there, and holed the putts I needed to hole. That's a good job done."

There are times when you have to ride your luck and, in that regard, Harrington got two big breaks with wayward drives on the front nine. The par four seventh is one of the narrowest fairways on the course, lined on either side by towering cathedral pines. For the second day running, Harrington pushed his three-wood tee-shot to the right. On Friday, he had run up a double-bogey.

This time, though, the ball hit a tree and bounced back towards the fairway, finishing a couple of inches in the rough but still allowing him to use his rescue club, which he did with good effect, reaching a greenside bunker and then getting up and down for par.

And, on the ninth, his tee-shot was so wild it struck trees, only to rebound out to the first fairway, from where he played a long-iron approach over the green and chipped and putted for a vital par.

They demonstrated the patience Rotella later referred to, even though Harrington dropped a shot on the short 12th, overflying the green into a bunker from where he barely cleared the lip with his recovery.

However, that birdie on the 13th enabled Harrington to keep in the hunt and, even when he recorded a double bogey on the 15th, he didn't capitulate (unlike playing partner Lucas Glover, whose response to a double bogey on that hole was to finish bogey-par-bogey). That 15th had cost Harrington a triple-bogey in Thursday's first round, but this time his response was to finish par-birdie-par, the par-saving putt on the 18th providing momentum to carry into the final round.

"I actually enjoyed the day, there's no question about it. I stuck in there, and enjoyed the conditions and the questions that they asked. I think the experience of a number of tournaments last year helped, like (the US Open at) Winged Foot, which helped me get my head into the right place for the challenge. I felt comfortable all day, remarkably comfortable," said Harrington.

Yet, even as he spoke on Saturday evening, his mind was working. A chat with Rotella awaited, and some more time on the range where, among those working away, was Tiger Woods.

The quest for glory is not an easy one.