Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
TROUBLED golfing star Padraig Harrington set aside his tournament woes and entertained a select group of golfing enthusiasts with a smile on his face and a swagger in his step.
As reported in last week’s GulfWeekly, the Irish legend visited the Royal Golf Club as guest of honour at HSBC’s annual golf day.
The three-time Major winner and former Ryder Cup player conducted a golf clinic for the bank’s select number of VIP guests, followed by an 18-hole round of golf on the club’s Montgomerie championship course.
“It’s good to be back in Bahrain,” he said. “I’m enjoying myself and the welcome has been warm.”
Harrington was certainly in his element, displaying his driving, chipping and putting skills in a friendly and informative manner with clear enthusiasm for a sport he still loves.
His personality shone as brightly as the sun throughout the session and this sunshine break may have just been what the golfing doctor ordered as he tries to rediscover his form.
The sport’s fans, followers and scribes have suggested it would have been impossible to imagine Harrington failing to make its lucrative climax in the desert when the European Tour’s Race to Dubai was launched five years ago.
However, after missing the cut at the recent KLM Open, Harrington’s name no longer appears among the top 60 who qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. He currently lies in 66th position.
Harrington recently told the Irish Independent of his determination to make it back on to Europe’s Ryder Cup team for Gleneagles in 2014 after missing out on the trip to the US last year.
Harrington may have two British Open titles and a USPGA Championship to his name, but he believes being part of the Ryder Cup dwarfs any other experience the sport has to offer.
The Irishman’s return to Europe after failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup play-off series in the US has brought no break in his troubles. He has missed six of his last eight cuts and finished 41st and 52nd in the other two events.
“The messianic glare has gone, the light has dulled in Mr Starry Eyes,” wrote British sports journalist, Neil Squires in the UK’s Daily Express.
“There has been nothing wrong with my game all year except when I go on the course with a card in my hand. I play quite well Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and I don’t seem to have the intensity on the tournament days,” Harrington said.
At 42, he should not be finished at the top level. Darren Clarke and Ernie Els won Majors at the same age and Harrington has spent twice the amount of time in the gym over his career as both of them put together, said Squires.
But, at the moment, an icon of European golf has completely lost his compass, he suggested. Harrington may just have found it again in Bahrain.
