Padraig Harrington, who is entering the final phase of a self-imposed hiatus from competition, won't resurface for tournament golf until the Malaysian Open in a fortnight's time - the first of seven events in eight weeks - but, when he does, the world number eight will have added some serious new armoury to his golf bag.
Although Ernie Els's remarkable early-season form has knocked the Dubliner off the top of the European Tour's Order of Merit, Harrington insisted yesterday that he wasn't too concerned about what others were doing and that he was more intent on ensuring that he is in the right physical condition and the correct mental state for when he resumes playing competitively.
When he does, Harrington will have a new Wilson Deep Red II driver and Deep Red irons in his bag, and possibly a new putter which, he said, was "in the pipeline" and could be "pretty significant". The putter, which is still awaiting delivery, is one which Harrington has designed with putting guru Harold Swash.
"It's a combination of about three or four different things that I have seen in putters that I have used over time that I want to get into one putter. I'm experimenting to try to get a putter that allows me to strike putts more orthodoxally. It has more to do with alignment and how the putter looks in my hands," he explained.
However, with some words of warning, Harrington added: "It is something I have tried before and it failed miserably."
In his nine-week absence from the circuit, Harrington - and world number one Tiger Woods - has watched Els dominate, winning three of his four tournaments so far this year. Undeterred, if not overly impressed, Harrington remarked: "My own personal experience from my amateur days is that you can't play well all the year, and the one time that you don't want to be playing good golf is in the winter. If you can only play well for three-quarters of the year, you've got to make sure it is the other three seasons. I've always needed a long winter break, and I actually went 42 days without playing a single hole of golf on a golf course.
"Now I'm itching to get back out, which is a sign that I've taken the right amount of time out. The goal will be to get sharp for the US Masters (in April), to ensure that I am sharp and in control of the mental side of my game when I get to play in Augusta. It takes a while to get back to where you are comfortable. The main thing is that when I get there, I am fit and ready."
To that end, Harrington has planned his itinerary to have him play in six weeks out of seven before the Masters. He starts his schedule in the Malaysian Open in two weeks and then takes in the World Matchplay in La Costa, followed immediately by the Dubai Desert Classic and the Qatar Masters before taking a week off and following up with the Players' Championship in Sawgrass, the BellSouth in Atlanta and then the Masters. The only change to his itinerary would come about if the looming war in Iraq materialises. If that were to happen, then Dubai and Qatar would go from his schedule and he would add on an extra tournament in the States.
"You've got to be disciplined enough to believe you can only play a certain amount of tournaments every year and you might as well make those the ones in the middle of the summer when they are the biggest and most important. I try to keep below 30. Tiger plays 22. He's top of the pile. But you might see someone struggling at the bottom of the Order of Merit who will play 35.
"The only problem with playing less is that when you turn up you have to perform. You have to have the confidence to turn up and perform. It's a Catch 22 situation. The better you play, the more time you can take off; and because you take off more time, the better you play. When you get your time off you can work on your game, you can work on whatever you need to work on without any distractions."
Looking fit and trim - the result of some serious work-outs in the gym over the winter - and tanned - the legacy of a recent holiday in Barbados - Harrington was in Dublin yesterday to promote a new competition aimed at club golfers. The "3 T's" tournament" - "Turning The Tide of Suicide" - is sponsored by Holiday Inn Dublin and will benefit suicide prevention through research, intervention and support through a number of charities and hospitals.
"It's a undercurrent of our society and something that people don't like to talk about," said Harrington, "but I'm sure there is not a family in Ireland that has not been touched in one way or another, directly or indirectly, by suicide."
Players will compete firstly at club level and then at regional level with the finalists qualifying for a grand final in South Africa in the autumn. The aim is to raise €1 million over four years.
Meanwhile, Peter Lawrie, who has missed the cut in his last three events, competes in this week's ANZ Championship at the New South Wales club, while Eamonn Brady, Stephen Browne, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey and Danny Sugrue play in the Central American Championship in Guatemala on the European Challenge Tour.
Elsewhere, Christy O'Connor starts his Champions Tour season in the Royal Carribean Classic in Florida where Eamonn Darcy is on the alternate list.
