Success drives Harrington to reach even higher

As a creature of evolution, the best - both mentally and physically - has yet to come, at least if Padraig Harrington has his way. "I've quite a bit to improve on," he admitted, which, given the 35-year-old Dubliner has risen to eighth in the official world rankings, has amassed over 14 million in prize-money and is Europe's number one golfer, is an upfront admission that his quest for betterment knows no end.

Yesterday, in the grand chambers of the Council Room at the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge, just two days after outlasting Tiger Woods to win the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, Harrington, hiding the jetlag and tiredness afflicting his body, was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of the John Moores University in Liverpool, an honour rarely bestowed and which puts him alongside such revered recipients as the Dalai Lama and Lech Walesa.

While Harrington still has three tournaments to play this year, he has already started to think about the seven-week winter break that lies ahead and how he can use that time to improve his game. "I've technical stuff to improve on and, physically, I've got some gym work to do. I need more speed and length, which will do me good on the golf course.

"The biggest improvement can come from the mental game," he added. "There has been some good successes this year, and that is encouraging. It is nice to have success. The great thing about winning is that it encourages you that you are on the right track.

"But I can develop it more. I've already talked to Ronan (Flood, his caddie) about my seven-week winter break and how I can make the most of what I've learned throughout the year.

"For the first three months of this year, I hit the ball so much better than I have at any other stage of my life, yet my results were worse. So it really confirmed to me that, yes, I want to improve my golf swing, but that is not where the answer lies in terms of getting the job done."

Harrington attributes his upturn in form from around the time of the US Open in June, when he was fifth, to a change in attitude. Such a transformation in approach has resulted in him not only winning twice and landing the European Tour money title, but was also evident in how he overcame a swing in Japan that was not firing on all cylinders and got into position, going head-to-head with Woods, that allowed him to ultimately claim success.

Indeed, Harrington yesterday observed that he has learned from the likes of Colin Montgomerie. "It's amazing, because I never put him down as a role model, but I look more at somebody like Monty, who is just trying to hang around the right spot, to be in the right place. I think I have got to the stage where I am turning up and, as long as things don't go against me, I can get around-about where I need to be, to get in to position like I did at Valderrama (in the Volvo Masters) and like I did in Japan, where I am hanging around in the right place so that if I get a break or two I can win the tournament. It is a question of taking the right attitude to get yourself into that position."

After he won the 2006 European Tour money title, Harrington seriously considered "shutting down for the winter and not playing until after Christmas. I was tired. I knew that, but I had committed to going to China (HSBC) and Japan (Dunlop), and I am committed for the next three weeks (Sun City, the World Cup in Barbados and the World Challenge in California). I am going more because I am committed. I think I would go to the World Cup no matter what. But I am tired."