Harrington says White House visit exceeded expectations

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INNISBROOK, Fla. -- All in all, the trip took about 11 hours door to door. The three Padraig Harrington spent Wednesday at the White House, though, will stay with him for a long, long time.

Even if he didn't get to meet President Barack Obama.

Harrington was invited to attend a St. Patrick's Day celebration in honor of the Irish Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, at the White House. Of course, he was playing in the Transitions Championship, too, so the logistics were a bit of a challenge.

Thank goodness for private planes, though. The Irishman left Innisbrook at 1:30 p.m. and got to the White House by 6 for the festivities. Three hours later he was back in the plane and returned to Florida by 12:30 a.m.

And by the luck of the Irish, Harrington had drawn an afternoon tee time for the first round so he could sleep in a little.

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Harrington brought President Obama a set of Wilson clubs and a staff bag.

"It was great," Harrington said Thursday about an hour before his 1:12 p.m. date with Stewart Cink and Kenny Perry. "Great day out. Nice way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day."

Harrington estimated there were about 150 people at the reception. The three-time major champion said he knew an "awful lot of them," too. He met the prime minister, as well as several Irish politicians, U.S. congressmen and Irish-American businessmen.

Just not President Obama, an avid golfer whom Harrington called last week "one of the most charismatic people of the world."

Harrington had brought a set of left-handed Wilson clubs to give to the commander-in-chief. He also gave him a staff bag -- embossed with the ornate presidential seal where the pro's name usually goes.

"I know he will get them and hopefully he will like them," Harrington said.

The Dubliner said Obama addressed the entire gathering. Then the president came out to shake hands with the guests "but by the time I got free to go, we just passed (each other)," Harrington said, motioning to a rope about 10 feet away to demonstrate how close they came.

While he didn't see the water that had been dyed green in the fountain on the lawn, Harrington did get to wander around the White House a bit and came away very impressed. He didn't make into the Oval Office, but he was struck by the warmth inside the building.

"The day was more enjoyable than I thought it would be," Harrington said. "And the actual White House was far better. I just liked the fact that it was very welcoming. That was the thing that stood out the most.

"You could go and sit in the library. It was just very relaxing in that sense. The people there were very friendly."