Learning from a Masters' lesson

Padraig Harrington yesterday made the two-hour journey from Augusta to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, where he continues his American odyssey by competing in this week's Worldcom Classic on the US Tour, with a number of things to reflect on from his second US Masters appearance.

You can guess that the 13th hole, which he covered in four-over-par for the four days, including a shattering triple bogey in Sunday's final round, will be one that will remain in the memory bank.

However, despite finishing in tied27th position, which gave him prize money of $40,600, the 29-year-old Dubliner - who has joined Clarke in working with the sports psychologist Bob Rotella - also feels he has the game to play the course. "What this week has said to me is that I can score around Augusta," said Harrington. "I know I can shoot better in future and, although I'm disappointed because I could have been a handful better, I've learned a lot from this Masters. I feel I know more about the course."

Harrington moved on to Hilton Head for what will be his third tournament in the US in a month. He finished tied-33rd at the Players' Championship in Sawgrass and tied-27th in Augusta, and moves on to a tournament that doesn't have a certain Tiger Woods in the field.

Darren Clarke, who finished in 24th position at the Masters, earning $53,760, won't return to competitive play until next week's Spanish Open and he moves on to play in Japan the following week after which he takes a week off before embarking on a six-week tournament stint.

As far as the overall European challenge was concerned, this year's Masters proved to be disappointing. Bernhard Langer, who finished in a four-way tie for sixth place alongside Jim Furyk, Kirk Triplett and Ernie Els, at least had the satisfaction of boosting his Ryder Cup qualifying points. The German, however, plans to compete in only 11 counting events this season which means he needs to make significant money in those tournaments to qualify automatically for Sam Torrance's team for the match with the US at the Belfry in September.

"I'm pleased with how I played," said Langer, who has based himself on the US Tour this season. "It shows that I can still compete with the best in the game. Ten years ago, I would have said that Tiger's win would be impossible, but now I know that everything is possible for Tiger."

Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has also based himself mainly on the US Tour this season, also improved his Ryder Cup qualifying prospects with a top-10 finish but he intends to return to the European Tour, starting with next week's Spanish Open, for a number of weeks to boost his chances of automatically making the team.

"I'm happy playing in America, especially when I play well in the majors," said Jimenez. "I plan to play quite a lot in Europe over the next few weeks, and hopefully I can bring the form that I showed this week, when I played consistent golf, back over there."