UNLIKE his two travelling companions to the US Open, Padraig Harrington has decided not to take a break from the PGA European Tour, which resumes with the Volvo German Open at Schloss Nippenburg ETC in Stuttgart.
Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley have decided to take a week's rest prior to a busy schedule which will see them compete in the French Open, the Murphy's Irish Open, the Loch Lomond World Invitational and the British Open in successive weeks.
Clarke consolidated his position as third in the European Ryder Cup table after pocketing some $11,000 from his Congressional endeavours, but perhaps more importantly, continuing his golfing education by making the cut there.
If Harrington and McGinley are to join Clarke on the European team in Valderrama for the Ryder Cup match with the United States on September 26th-28th, the big money events of July could prove to be make-or-break time, with total of £4,550,000 - more prizemoney than in any other month in the season - on offer.
Harrington is currently 16th in the Ryder Cup table with 173,031 points while McGinley is in 22nd place with 134,895.
The German Open, which starts on Thursday, is the 20th tournament on the European circuit and will be Harrington's 17th outing. The Dubliner has recovered from the heat-induced illness which marred his debut appearance in the US Open and will lead a depleted Irish contingent to Stuttgart where Ian Woosnam will be defending his title.
Harrington will be joined in Germany by Philip Walton Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Raymond Burns and, David Higgins. John McHenry is ninth reserve and unlikely to get a place in the field.
Meanwhile, former Tour player Arnold O'Connor, who failed to secure a place in last month's limited-field inaugural Irish Seniors' Open, showed a welcome return to form when taking tied-third place in the European Seniors Classic at Castle Royale, Maidenhead, last weekend. The event was won by American T R Jones, with Tommy Horton, the runaway leader of the Seniors' moneylist, in second place.
Interestingly, Tiger Woods, who did not make the impact at the US Open that many people expected, has still moved to number one position in the latest Sony world rankings.
Woods, indeed, continues to set new records. The youngest ever winner of the US Masters is now the youngest ever world number one at 21 years and 24 weeks. He is also the player to make the fastest rise up the rankings since moving from the amateur ranks
Woods took just six weeks as a professional to move into the world's top 100, eight weeks to make the top 50, and 33 weeks to move into the top 10. Woods takes over from Greg Norman, who miserably missed the cut at Congressional, as world number one. Colin Montgomerie is in third position.
Darren Clarke is the leading Irishman, in 53rd position.
