Fuente: © World Golf Championships
http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/

GOLF: PGA TOUR: Harrington back for first time since Open win

/noticias.info/ By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AKRON, Ohio -- The Claret Jug that Patrick Harrington filled with ladybirds last year is safely back in Dublin right now, although the son of the Champion Golfer of the Year is leaning toward caterpillars in 2008.

"He wants to get butterflies or something," Padraig Harrington said with a smile. "He thinks it would be an ideal place to host those."

Good thing the man who won his second straight Open Championship at Royal Birkdale didn't decide to bring the Claret Jug across the pond with him this week. No telling where it might have ended up.

Turns out, Harrington left his suitcase in his bedroom at home and didn't realize his mistake until he landed in Chicago. He waited patiently at the carousel and was just about to complain that the airline had lost the bag when the light dawned.

"My wife looked at me and said, 'You're lucky you won the Open two weeks ago,'" Harrington recalled. "We're going to give you a pass on this one.'"

FedEx delivered the suitcase to Firestone Country Club on Wednesday morning. He arrived for interviews and a practice round in shorts and a tee shirt, but soon found his luggage in the locker room where he made a quick change to his "logos."

"It's a miracle," Harrington said with a sheepish grin.

Of course, the hard-working Irishman has been living a pretty charmed life over the last two years.

There was that playoff duel with Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie as Harrington took advantage of his second chance after double-bogeying the 72nd hole. And his first major was followed by a successful defense at Royal Birkdale, as Harrington overtook the 53-year-old Greg Norman and won by four.

Harrington comes to Firestone to play in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational this week a little "flat" but not flat-out exhausted as he was a year ago. Sure, there were a few parties to celebrate but he avoided the all-out media blitz of 2007.

"Since Birkdale I've definitely been more disciplined than last year," Harrington said. "I think my first major was more for everybody, everybody who supported me, especially at home in Ireland. There's so many fans, so many people who have lived my career, both the highs and the lows. And every time I finished second it was tough to take for them, and every time I won. And there's no question, I felt I needed to give back more with that win.

"The second win is definitely more for me. It's definitely more about me moving on in my career, about my improving as a player. I was definitely more willing to share the first win in that sense and give more of myself."

Even though he now has two majors on his growing resume and has risen to No. 3 in the world, Harrington says he plays better with fear than with confidence. He needs to be disciplined and motivated, keeping his preparation constant and focused week-to-week.

"Having a win the week previous, if anything, is detrimental to my golf," he said. "I'm a much better player, as I've proved going into the Open, when I'm under a little bit of pressure to perform. So we'll wait and see.

"Maybe it will change in all this time and maybe I'll be a totally different player and be walking around like I'm walking on air. But I don't believe it."

Besides, Harrington, who is building a home in North Carolina, has a lot he wants to accomplish. This year, more than any other, he has focused on the four majors -- with final one, the PGA Championship, upcoming next week -- and the Ryder Cup.

He's only played in 10 PGA TOUR events this year and finished in the top-10 in half of those, including a tie for fifth at the Masters. He's ninth in the FedExCup race, as well, and the $10 million bonus to the winner adds incentive to the stretch run.

"I kept absolute to a minimum, which put me under a certain amount of pressure, because the less you play, it's saying you want to turn up and deliver when you play," Harrington admitted. "Guys who play a lot of events are hoping to deliver. ... Thankfully I've got the win to back that up.

"But I'm in a good position in terms of I haven't over played up until now. Interestingly enough, the fact that the win has gotten me well into the FedExCup I now have a good opportunity in the FedExCup, as well. So you've got this week, you've got the PGA, you've got three FedExCup events. ...

"Then we have the Ryder Cup, which in itself ... totally takes over. It goes from being another event when you get there to just being everything. It's incredible how much that week changes when you get there, the adrenaline and the whole push that week is amazing.

"And then if you're in position you've got THE TOUR Championship. I think six guys had a chance at winning the FedExCup last year going into the last one, so you want to be one of those that handful of guys with a chance. So yeah, a lot of big events."

And it all starts now. notas_de_prensa_archivo