Harrington looking on the bright side

A day after losing a play-off to US Masters champion Vijay Singh in Malaysia, Padraig Harrington's travel itinerary demonstrated that touring profes sionals don't have much time for reflection. By lunchtime yesterday, he was in Singapore. By teatime, he was in the hotel gym. Same time zone, different country, new tournament. Life, as ever, goes on.

Another thing had changed, however. Harrington's second place finish in the Malaysian Open - his 10th runners-up position on the European Tour since 1996 - at least earned him sufficient points to move up three places into the world's top-20, in 20th place, for the first time in his career. Darren Clarke, who makes his first appearance on the European circuit at next week's Dubai Desert Classic, remains the top Irishman in the rankings in ninth place.

This week, Harrington makes a quick return to action in the Caltex Singapore Masters. Among his fellow-competitors will be Singh, who beat him at the third hole of a play-off in Malaysia on Sunday, and Colin Montgomerie, who made a winning seasonal debut in the Australian Masters at the weekend.

Far from bemoaning that another tournament had slipped from his grasp, Harrington - who has moved to third place in Europe's Ryder Cup table - was working on the positives.

"Before I went out to Malaysia, I had set a target to finish in the top-20 and I would have considered that a good show. It has to be pleasing to actually contend, but I'm not pleased to lose - it is tough to lose a playoff."

In fact, it was the third playoff (from three) that Harrington has lost on the European Tour: Sergio Garcia beat him at the second play-off hole in the 1999 German Masters; Roger Chapman beat him in a play-off in the Rio de Janeiro Open in Brazil last year, and now Singh has prolonged the list. Harrington's only play-off win as a professional came in the 1999 Irish PGA championship at Powerscourt.

"I don't dislike play-offs. Maybe I'll win one to win a bigger tournament. All you can do is go out there and play your game," he said. "It's far better than tossing a coin. I might be having a run of play-offs going against me now, but there is always the prospect of having a run the opposite way too."

What was irking him yesterday as he looked back on the final round was his putting, normally one of the strongest parts of his game. "I had three threeputts and, as well as that, I wasn't giving any of my birdie chances a chance. When I look back on the round, that's the reason I didn't win the tournament," he said. Indeed, Harrington had a total of 33 putts for his final round in contrast to 29, 28 and 30 in the previous three rounds.

"I just got caught out, due to a lack of practice. You just can't practice everything (in a week)," said Harrington. "I still have things to work on . . . my swing, my short game. I'll keep practising my pitching because it is the best it has been for quite some time. That was one of the things I had highlighted as something I had to work on and I'm delighted with it. Of the 20-plus birdies I had (in Malaysia), the vast majority came from the wedge play."

Ironically, one of the few times his approach let him down was on the 17th hole, his 71st hole. Unaware that Singh, playing in the match in front, had taken a double-bogey six, Harrington played an aggressive approach and, in his own words, "air-mailed" the green. He took a bogey five and, ahead, Singh birdied the last which resulted in the play-off.

"I didn't know Vijay had taken six because the scoreboard on the 17th faced the green. If it had faced the other way, my caddie (Dave McNeilly) would have spotted it. So, I played the shot into the 17th looking for a birdie because that is what I thought I needed," said Harrington.

In fact, Harrington's threewood for position off the tee was too well struck if anything. Instead of having his desired 90 yards for his approach, he had just 75 yards and attempted to hit a "half-lob wedge" which overshot the green. "If I'd known what the situation was prior to hitting that approach, I would have been more defensive," he admitted.

Harrington, though, has shown in the past that he is well able to pick himself up after losing a play-off. Last year, a week after losing to Chapman in Rio de Janeiro, he went out and won the Sao Paulo Brazil Open in his next event.

It should also be noted that Harrington had to play 29 holes in the humidity on Sunday (eight holes from his rain-interrupted third round, 18 in the final round and three in the play-off). Which is why, upon arrival in Singapore, one of his first tasks was to find the gym for a light work-out. "I wasn't looking forward to it, but I knew if I didn't go today it would have to be tomorrow," he said.

That discipline to keep to a fitness regime has helped his rise up the rankings. "It helped, having to play 29 holes in that heat on Sunday, but where it really makes a difference is come November. As an amateur I was used to playing 36 holes a day, sometimes four or five days in a row. As a professional, however, you don't have to get through just one tournament. You're playing a number of tournaments under intense pressure all the way through the year and you're possibly going to be playing for 20 years - and to do that you have to be in the best physical and mental shape."

Meanwhile, Richie Coughlan, who failed to get into last week's Bob Hope Classic, continues his US Tour campaign - his fifth outing of the season - in this week's Nissan Open at the Riviera Club in Los Angeles.