Harrington has birdies on his mind

The maze of roads that links up to Interstate 85 can require just one slip-up, or one wrong turn, to leave travellers in a sort of no-man's land, which helped explain why Padraig Harrington - and his passenger Paul McGinley - eventually reached the Atlantic Athletic Club, venue for the 83rd USPGA Championship, a couple of hours behind schedule yesterday.

At least it brought home to the duo some sense of fallibility, at least off the golf course, because, on it, the two can do little wrong of late. Harrington's tied-seventh place finish in the Buick Open in Michigan brought him to a career-high 13th in the official world rankings, and McGinley's win in the Wales Open shot him up to a best ever 43rd place.

Harrington's delayed journey didn't affect his spirits, as he bounced into the locker-room here to be greeted by the arrival of a brand new Wilson bag, with his myriad of sponsors' names suitably prominent. The decision to go to Michigan - where an indication of his ever-increasing profile here was demonstrated to him by the number of Americans calling him correctly by his christian name - for a warm-up tournament was a good one.

"I putted well, hit the ball well and did just about everything well. It was a good tournament for me. It is always good to change things, and normally I wouldn't have played in the previous week and arrived earlier and played some extra practice rounds. But you don't really need to do that around here, because everything is there in front of you. It's more a case of preparing yourself for what you need to play the course rather than actually being out on it," insisted Harrington.

"It's playing long and it is very tight roughwise, but if you hit it good and strong and straight off the tee, then you have really got a chance to make birdie. The greens are very good, and reasonably similar in design all the way round with two bunkers in front and tiers at some stage. Normally, in a major, you'd be just set on making pars but, after last weekend, I am in a birdie frame of mind. If you get your drive away, you'll definitely be thinking of making birdies."

The Dubliner actually managed to get in nine holes practice on Monday evening upon his arrival from Michigan, not long after a local thunderstorm had soaked the fairways. But he also had an appointment to keep with the noted American sports psychologist Bob Rotella and he spent the best part of an hour and half with him in his build-up to what will be his third USPGA appearance.

Past history in this championship hasn't been particularly kind to Harrington. On his debut appearance at Winged Foot in 1997, he suffered dehydration and missed the cut; and, last year, he was injured and, into the bargain, his regular caddie Dave McNeilly had travel problems that resulted in his absence. He finished tied-58th.

So often perceived by tradition as the fourth in line of the four majors, Harrington doesn't believe that the players approach this week any differently than they do the US Masters, US Open or British Open.

"To a player," he said, "winning a major is winning a major. And, from a personal point of view, I am getting more and more comfortable with this style of course. If I had come here four or five years ago, it would have scared the life out of me."

Such an approach could also be attributed to McGinley, who'll be competing in only his second USPGA. But he does so with a new bounce in his step, the upward curve in his career confirmed by his new world ranking. And in terms of making the Ryder Cup - "He's not quite there yet, but it is in his own hands to stumble over the line," observed Harrington - McGinley admitted his win in Celtic Manor had "broken the back" of qualifying.

"I just have to stay focused now and I know it is up to me. I can't rely on what anyone else does." With over $5 million in prize money on offer this week, McGinley knows better than anyone that such a focus is more important here than at any other time in his career.