Harrington not afraid to grind it out
SAN DIEGO -- The phone rang just as he was returning from a teaching session, and Bob Torrance fully expected his prized pupil, Padraig Harrington, to be on the other end of the line.
The fact that it was someone wanting to talk about Harrington was just as well, as the subject helps warm his bones, especially since it was snowing in Scotland.
Torrance, the father of former European Tour Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, has long worked with Harrington, who has won three of the past six major championships. Harrington begins his quest for a third straight major -- at the Masters in April -- with his first 2009 event in the U.S. this week at the Buick Invitational.
A little snow would never keep Torrance from the practice tee, which is likely one of the reasons this relationship with Harrington has flourished.
"He's the most dedicated, hardest worker I've ever worked with," said Torrance, 76, who has taught numerous big-time players in Europe. "I've said all my life, if I had a man who was willing to work 10 hours a day, I'll be glad to stand beside him. I got my wish."
And sure enough, Harrington had called Torrance from California, eight time zones away, on the eve of the Buick Invitational, where Harrington opened the tournament Thursday with a 71 that included a four-putt. He stood eight shots behind leader Camilo Villegas. Harrington refers to Torrance as "like a second father," so they often chat about things other than golf.
But having played just one tournament in the past three months -- Harrington tied for fifth last month at the Abu Dhabi Championship -- and being someone who admits that fear motivates him, Harrington spoke more about golf in this conversation with Torrance.
"He's not happy with the way he is hitting the ball," Torrance said, chuckling.
Perhaps that is when Harrington is most dangerous.
Nobody frets about his game more and gets more out of it than Harrington, 37, who has won more than 20 times around the world.
Remember last year's British Open at Royal Birkdale. On the eve of the tournament, Harrington considered withdrawing because of a wrist problem. In the first round, he played in the worst of the conditions. But on Sunday, he was the one holding the Claret Jug.
A few weeks later at the PGA Championship, still on a high from defending his Open title, Harrington lamented not being in the right frame of mind. He sensed that his game was off, that he was not getting the most out of his rounds. And when it was over, the Irishman had come from behind to hold the Wanamaker Trophy, becoming the first European golfer since 1930 to claim the title.
"I'm always playing a mental game," Harrington said. "I'm always trying to be reasonably positive. In some ways I'm preparing myself for a battle [here]. I don't expect to go out there and find it easy. So when I say that I'm struggling a bit, I'm trying to get into my head that I'm going to have to knuckle down, work hard to save every shot. Every shot is crucial that I give it 100 percent."
Buick Invitational
1. Villegas (-9)
T-2. Baddeley (-6)
T-2. Love III (-6)
T-4. Overton (-4)
T-4. Garrigus (-4)
T-4. Appleby (-4)
• Complete scores
Well, there was some difficulty, to be sure. After birdieing three of the first four holes, Harrington managed just two more. And then there was that four-putt at the 17th, including a third putt that didn't even touch the cup.
"I didn't think the putting would let me down. That was the least of my worries," Harrington said.
Perhaps that is part of what comes with expectations.
Dating back to 1975, only Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Tom Watson have managed to win three of six majors as Harrington has done. And Harrington, ranked third in the world behind Woods and Sergio Garcia, can join Tiger and Ben Hogan as the only pros to win three consecutive majors.
Harrington knows that will be a big topic of conversation heading to Augusta National, where he tied for fifth last year at the Masters and tied for seventh in 2007.
"I think the goal is obviously to in some way deflect some of the attention and try and concentrate on doing your own thing rather than get involved in the hype that could be there," Harrington said. "I'm really just trying to do my own thing rather than get too much into results. Everybody likes to improve their results year to year. It's going to be difficult in my case."
Nonetheless, Harrington is trying to give himself every opportunity to be prepared when the Masters rolls around in April.
He typically finds that he gears up best for tournaments by playing in a series of events and building as he goes along. His trip to the Middle East three weeks ago was more to see where his game was after the offseason than it was a competitive exercise.
Harrington was pleasantly surprised by the high finish, but came back lamenting the state of his game. He had never played at Torrey Pines in the Buick Invitational previously, but did compete on the venue in last year's U.S. Open, when the course setup was clearly different.
The idea is to play the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the Northern Trust Open and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship before heading back to Ireland. If he follows that plan, it would mean Harrington will skip the WGC-CA Championship at Doral because he recently has followed a routine of playing two tournaments leading up to a major.
Harrington said he would play the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Shell Houston Open in the two weeks before the Masters after returning from Ireland.
"When he comes back home, he'll come over here [to Largs, Scotland] and we'll sort things out," Torrance said. "You're always a bit rusty after a long layoff, and I don't know if you know Ireland, but if you are a star there, you don't get any space. And that's not bad.
"But I think very much he wants to win more majors. And he's more than willing to work at it. The harder you work, the better you get -- in any walk of life."
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
