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CHAMPIONSHIP
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| Back to work for Open Champion Harrington  PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents AKRON, Ohio -- He's heard about the honking horns and traffic jams back home in Ireland, and he knows people who broke their TV sets when he hit it into the Barry Burn, not once, but twice, on the 18th hole at Carnoustie that Sunday. The Irish love their sports -- and the unassuming Padraig Harrington gave them another hero when he beat Sergio Garcia in a four-hole playoff at the 136th Open Championship. The Dubliner was the first Irishman in 60 years to claim the Claret Jug.  Padraig Harrington is back to work after winning his first major. (Getty Images)
"I could never have predicted the reaction, and it has been phenomenal," Harrington said. "And the bookmakers owe $5 million -- what more can you ask for?" He smiled. The last 10 days have been something of a whirlwind for Harrington, who returns to competition this week at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. First, came the celebrations -- and make no mistake about it, the Irish know how to party. "At this stage, if you smelt the inside of that Claret Jug, you wouldn't want to drink out of it," Harrington said. More recently, though, the three-time PGA TOUR champion has found himself doing exactly what he did on Wednesday -- talking to the media about his breakthrough victory. He's just beginning to realize the magnitude of his accomplishment. "I obviously enjoyed it, but it hasn't sunk in yet," the ever-modest Harrington admitted. "It's only in the quiet moments that you kind of stand back and realize that you've won." And those quiet moments have been in short supply of late. Consider his schedule Tuesday -- interviews with USA Today, GOLF CHANNEL, Sky Sports and PGA TOUR Productions, among others. He also filmed a commercial for Titleist and two other promos on the range. "I did so many that I can't remember," Harrington said. "You know, it just builds up." His schedule had been so hectic, Harrington hasn't gotten to spend much time with his friends on the PGA TOUR, many of whom he was seeing for the first time since the victory. He estimates he's gotten more than 200 text messages, though, and one friend has even changed Harrington's entry in his cell phone to "Champion Golfer 2007." Finally about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the affable Irishman played golf for the first time since Sunday evening at Carnoustie. He got in seven holes before going to meet with his trainer -- late for the appointment, of course. "You can't prepare yourself for anything like this," Harrington said. "I knew that there would be a lot of things to do, a lot of distractions. My preparation is very poor for this, in fairness. I didn't hit a shot last week. I did no practice. "I'm quite happy to accept that. I've had a chat with (sports psychologist) Bob Rotella about it, and the goal going forward is to do all the things I need to do, and when the tournament starts, just get back into playing and hopefully the game shouldn't have gone away. Hopefully, it will still be there and gradually improve over the next four days and maybe I can get into contention on Sunday."
Harrington said he plans to talk to other first-time major winners about how to handle the demands on their time. He's already had a conversation with Michael Campbell, and there are plenty of other brains to pick at Firestone this week. "Whenever anybody dreams about winning the Open Championship, they dream about holing the putt and they dream about holding the Claret Jug up. They don't dream about what happens afterward," explained Harrington, who joins Masters champ Zach Johnson and U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera in claiming maiden major victories this year. "It's been great. I've got to say, 10 days, fantastic, having all the attention and doing all this. I'm only going to win my first major once. So it's great to run with it. "Obviously in terms of competing and golf, I couldn't keep running with it. I couldn't do this week in, week out. But I realize that. I kind of knew that straight away when I won that my preparation wouldn't be right for the next event. ... I was only fit for sleeping and doing interviews it seems like, and partying a little bit." Harrington has never played particularly well at Firestone, anyway. He's never finished higher than a tie for 12th at the Bridgestone Invitational, and that was in his first appearance in 1999. If there are horses for courses, "this is not one of my happy hunting grounds," he said. Still, Harrington is keenly aware of what an important stretch of tournaments he has on the horizon, beginning with the $8 million World Golf Championships event. The PGA Championship will be played next week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, and two weeks later, he'll begin the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. "The FedExCup does have a lot of focus for a lot of players," Harrington, who ranks 19th in the points standings, said. "It gives a great opportunity. We all want to start well. I think a good start is what's needed. The first two weeks you really want to get out there and get a big performance to carry into the last two events to give yourself a chance. "You know, it is a long number of events, four events, but they're all in nice places. I'm sure we can burden ourselves with that." The first Playoff event is The Barclays, which Harrington just happened to win in 2007. He knows, though, not to get ahead of himself -- not this week, or next week or at any time during the playoffs. It all starts now, at Firestone. "A lot of my preparation for next week is about being in the right place this week," Harrington said. "So I'm not going to get ahead of myself the four days of the tournament. "As I said, I was out on the golf course yesterday, my caddie reminded me, I was on the phone with Bob Rotella, he reminded me every shot I hit this week will help me play better next week. So definitely, it's do the right job this week and there will be less work next week." |
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