ROLL WITH IT

Padraig Harrington enjoying life as one of the DP World Tour’s elder statesmen

By Matt Smith

Three majors, 36 professional wins, four Ryder Cup victories and the added bonus of a US Senior Open title last year to boot — it is safe to say that Padraig Harrington can be pretty satisfied with his lot as a 51-year-old elder statesman of the game.

The thing is... he is still hungry for more.

Fresh from worrying the young pups with a fourth-place finish — two behind winner Victor Perez — at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week, the Irish veteran is in town for this week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Despite trudging around the world’s greatest courses on a knee that “needs replacing sooner or later”, Harrington knows he can still spar with the best of them on his day.

“Yeah, I feel good,” Harrington said ahead of his opening round at Emirates Golf Club. “I felt good about my game at the end of the year, so it was nice to start off maybe a little quicker than I expected. Normally I wouldn’t be that good the first weekend, but it is always good to be in contention again. You want a chance, and certainly I’ll look back at last week and have a few regrets.

“Hey, when get to my age, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays are not very exciting. It’s hard to get up on those days but this [the Majlis] is a big, big golf course, and with this rain, it’s going to get even longer.

“But obviously if it’s wet, it’s going to be quite a difficult test.” Not wanting to harp on about his age, Harrington recalls what the Dubai horizon was like when he first took part here in 1998.

“There was nothing there when I teed it up first,” he laughed. “The only thing on the horizon was the Hard Rock Cafe. That was it. Now we have this skyline and the city has changed so much.”

But one thing that Harrington recalls from each visit to Emirates Golf Club is the risky approach shot to the final green — the very shot that was Rory McIlroy’s undoing last year.

“For me, I would still say the most memorable and perilous shot is second shot on 18,” Harrington said. “That has the player under pressure. So everybody thinks it’s a beautiful hole, the 18th, and what a beautiful shot, but the players are sweating it a bit, especially if you’re in contention. So yeah, the second shot on 18 is the one that does it for me.”

Reflecting on the new Dubai Duty Free sponsor, Harrington added: “It’s brilliant that Hero are moving in now and supporting the Dubai Desert Classic. This is one of our marquee events now for 25 years on tour. It’s an event that it’s just one of our best events. This is a championship golf course. It truly is a big test. For Hero to take title sponsorship and sort of guarantee its place in golf here, that’s very important.”

Harrington first underwent surgery on his troublesome right knee eight years ago, and he admits that it needs further attention — but only when the time suits him.

“I need three months, six months of that, and so that’s not going to happen for a few years and at the moment I’m going to take my chances and put up with what I’ve got,” he said.

“I’m trying to keep myself somewhat okay. It’s always been a balance, and when I get older, the rest side is winning out.”