Dubliner hoping to get back to ‘a sort of normality’

Open champion Padraig Harrington is pleased to have shed some of the limelight after his stellar achievements of last summer. The Dubliner won back-to back majors at the Open and USPGA and became the hottest property in golf. That produced pressures - and commitments - that inevitably led to a dip in form. But the emergence of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and the return to action of Tiger Woods has taken the pressure off him and Harrington admitted: “It’s been a big bonus. “Tiger is back, Phil (Mickelson) has been great, which has obviously taken huge amounts of the media attention in the US, and Rory McIlroy coming on the scene has taken a good bit of the attention at home, so it’s all the better for me. “That makes me better able tomanage my own time and cope with what I’m doing. “The attention is less when other things are happening. That’s all good in terms of my preparation and lets me get back to sort of normality in how I prepare.”

As for his form heading towards next month’s Masters, Harrington added: “Ideally, if I were to be absolutely competitive and sharp, I’d probably have played 15 events by this stage, and that’s not going to happen because I’ll be worn out and burnt out by the PGA in August. “I’ll have played seven or eight events going into the Masters, which I hope is enough. Maybe if I had played three or four more, it would be better, but I know I can’t do that. “I’m hoping to be ready for the Masters, but I’m also hoping not to burn myself out by the end of the PGA.

“There are a lot of balls in the air that have to be juggled to make sure you perform throughout the year and not just make short-term sacrifices that could cost you later.” Harrington was beaten by Pat Perez in the first round of the WGC Accenture Match Play last month and finished joint 20th the following week at Doral. “I’ve been home for the last week doing a little bit of practice,” Harrington added. “Doral the week before was exactly what I needed in terms of going out on the golf course and seeing where my game was at and working on a few things on the course. “I still have a few issues - I definitely drove the ball poorly in Doral - but last week was a very positive week going forward.” This week Harrington will tee it up at the Arnold Palmer invitational at Bay Hill in Florida. Sky.com

That means Woods, 32, is ruled out of the...