PADRAIG HARRINGTON will partner world number one Tiger Woods in the opening rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill which starts tomorrow. American Mark Wilson completes the threesome.

Graeme McDowell is in a group with Ross Fisher (England) and Harrison Frazar of the US.

Meanwhile, Harrington, who will be bidding for a rare third consecutive major title at next month’s US Masters, has set his sights on becoming Europe’s most prolific grand slam champion.

Victory at last year’s PGA Championship gave Harrington his third major crown, leaving him trailing only Briton Nick Faldo (six) and Spaniard Seve Ballesteros (five) among European golfers of the modern era.

Jack Nicklaus piled up a record tally of 18 majors while Woods lies second in the all-time standings with 14.

“I’d be more thinking about bridging the gap between the best players in Europe,” Harrington said yesterday.

“I’d love to sit here and say: ‘Hey, look, I’m trying to bridge the gap between me and Jack Nicklaus’. But that’s way up there so why not go for Faldo, who’s won six, and Seve, with five. Those are the more immediate gaps.

“I’ve gotten to win the most majors any Irish person has ever won so the next level is to try to win the most majors any European guy has won, and then you start moving on from that.”

Much of the speculation going into the April 9th-12th US Masters will focus on whether Harrington can match the feat of three major victories in a row achieved only by Woods (2000), Nicklaus (1971-2) and Ben Hogan (1953).

But Harrington played down his chances. “It would be a nice bonus to win three majors in a row but does it make much difference whether I win this one or win one in a year’s time or two years’ time?” he asked.

“If you had told me I was going to miss the cut in the Masters and win it next year, I’d be very happy with that.”