Aside from defending champion José Maria Olazábal, it is hard to imagine anyone looking forward to returning to compete in the Benson and Hedges International Open more than Padraig Harrington.
For when the Irishman tees up in the 19th event on the 2001 European Tour International Schedule, it will give him the chance to finally lay to rest the ghost of one of the unhappiest moments of his professional career.
Twelve months ago, following a spectacular course record 64 in the third round, Harrington was poised to take a five shot lead into the last 18 holes before he was disqualified on the morning of the final round after it was found his first round scorecard had been incorrectly signed.
The Ryder Cup player was, quite rightly, given immense praise for the magnanimous way he accepted the decision in public but, with a return to The De Vere Belfry looming, Harrington admitted that in private it was a different story.
“It was bizarre the whole thing,” he said. “I suppose if I had been lying 60th in the field nobody would have bothered too much about it, but because I was leading, it was unfortunate – it was very bad timing to say the least.
“There was nothing I could do, it had happened, and I just had to get on with it. I did say at the time that there was always next week to look forward to, which of course there was. But to be honest, it wasn’t as easy as that.
“It was a pretty stressful time and it took me a good while to get over it, I can tell you. I lost about half a stone in weight over the next couple of weeks, thinking about what had happened and what could have happened if I had gone on to play and win.
“It seemed that whenever I spoke to anyone about anything over the next few months the conversation would always come round to that incident. It died down a little after that but I suppose it will be brought up again this week because we are back at The Belfry.
“But here’s hoping I can have a good week and that we can start talking about my golf. Once I get through this week hopefully all the other stuff can be laid to rest once and for all – it was a long time ago now after all.”
The great irony of Harrington’s wish is the fact that had it not been for the administrative error, everyone would have indeed been talking about his golf last year which was, particularly in the third round, truly superb.
The Irishman rolled in eight birdies without dropping a shot and gave credence to his strongly-held belief that if you drive the ball well at The De Vere Belfry, you have a great chance of scoring well.
“It is definitely a real driving golf course and a lot more testing off the tee than a lot we play on,” said Harrington. “To be honest I think that was the reason I played so well last year – I was nicely zoned in and when somebody asked me afterwards how come I was so far down and hitting such short irons into holes, I said because I saw every hole as a driver where other players might have been a bit more cautious.
“I suppose that sums up the golf course though. On most of the holes you can play safe off the tee, you can be a little bit aggressive, or you can be very aggressive.
“If you are very aggressive and get a good drive away, you are left with a good opportunity to birdie although you can be heavily punished if it goes wrong. Whereas if you opt to play safe from the tee you are invariably left with a tough par to make.”
Harrington pinpointed the holes which bring to an end both halves of the Brabazon Course as a perfect example of the risks players in the Benson and Hedges International Open will have to weigh up.
“The 18th is, without question one of the most intimidating tee shots on the Tour,” he said. “I think the toughest part of it is the fact it is a blind shot. Nobody likes a blind shot in golf, especially when you are under pressure, and there is a lot of trouble for missing the fairway.
“If there was only rough down there, everybody would hit driver no problem, but with the water being there it just creates a little bit of doubt in your mind and that makes it that little bit tougher to make your normal swing.
“But, as I was saying, if you do get your drive away, you can go in there with something like a nine iron like Fred Couples did in the Ryder Cup against Christy O’Connor jnr.
“As for the ninth, it is a good example of where finding the rough from the tee can seriously dent your chances of making par. It’s not a particularly long hole, only about a drive and eight or nine iron, but once you miss the fairway you can’t really get at the green.
“There is water short and right and although it doesn’t come into play if you’re hitting your second from the fairway, if you’re coming out of the rough it is a different story because there is no real entrance to run the ball up.
“In the end you have to end up hitting it left and then you’re left with a very awkward up and down because of the way the green slopes from back left to front right. There are other holes like that too, nice holes, but if you just drift off the fairway you know to walk off with a par you’ll have done really well.”
After finishing runner-up to Phillip Price in the Algarve Open de Portugal in his last competitive appearance, and having spent part of his week off under the watchful eye of long-time coach Bob Torrance, Harrington’s game again seems to be in tip-top condition. “I am looking forward to going back, of course I am,” admitted Harrington. “I’ll be interested to see how I get on.”
However he fares on the course one thing is for certain, there will be no more diligent player in the recorders tent after his round than the Irishman. He would gladly take a repeat of the 64 – nothing else.
