Harrington aiming for home success

Padraig Harrington practices for the Irish Open at Ballybunion. Allsport.

Ryder Cup golfer Padraig Harrington had a number of goals when he tees off at the Irish Open, one of which is not to look foolish in front of his home crowd..

"I can see why Tom Watson has come here to prepare for the Open in the past," said 28-year-old Dubliner, who amazingly has never visited the west of Ireland links before.

"I can think of nowhere better to sharpen up your short game. It's a fantastic course. I know it's been ranked among the top 10 in the world and it's definitely up there."

In yesterday's pro-am, however, Harrington felt no need to hide the fact that "at times I felt foolish" - because he suspected everybody else was experiencing the same.

"It's an extreme test and asks every question. You have to hit every shot and it's very tiring mentally. It's going to take a lot of patience.

"You wouldn't want to play something as tough as this every week - players would be finishing their seasons in August because they'd have had enough - but it's great once in a while.

"Other players whom you wouldn't think of as people who love links golf have come up to me saying it's phenomenal.

"They've been asking what have they doing the rest of their lives because this is real golf.

"As an amateur I missed a couple of tournaments here and thought I was unlikely ever to play it in a competition. But now I am."

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