by Greg Allen
In many ways, it wasn't what he said at today's Masters Press Conference that mattered most, it was the way he said it.
Pádraig Harrington was as relaxed and comfortable in his own skin in a pre-major conference as he has ever been.
That comes from the confidence that he is in appropriate good form heading into this Masters after three consecutive tournaments on the USPGA Tour in which he has been in contention over the weekend.
Harrington has been coming here since 2000 when he declared ‘I absolutely love this place’ having made the cut with a second round 69.
It has been a turbulent love affair and he has twice finished in the top 5 and he has only once been in real contention when he tied for seventh place in 2007 just four shots off the winning total of Zach Johnson.
That was the year that Harrington looked to be on a roll on the back nine before he put a ball into the water with his second strike to the par five 15th.
Harrington: lost momentum on 15
As the ball was in the air from a 230 yard approach shot, he had stared the shot down thinking it was almost perfect to roll up to the flag for a possible eagle before it dropped inches short and into the pond in front of the green. It was a small margin between gaining two shots on the field and losing one to par.
Nevertheless, I remember Harrington bounding out of the recorder's hut after that round with a big smile on his face as he declared that he now knew how to win a major. Three months later at Carnoustie, he proved his point.
The Masters now is one of only two majors he has not won and he declared today that if he is to win a fourth major championship, he would really like it to be a Masters or a US Open.
He has made little secret since his USPGA victory in 2008 that one of his goals is to win the career Grand Slam and that means adding each of those majors to his CV.
He said at today's conference: ‘If I won a fourth, I would dearly love it to be the Masters or the US Open. But the Masters is definitely one of the special ones to win because I think we come back here every year and know everything so well. It's also the first major of the year and the one you wait the longest for.’
And the fact that he has shown real form in his last three tournaments is extremely important to his challenge here.
He continued: ‘I like to build up to a major in some form. I've got into contention in my last three events - I haven't performed well in contention when I've got there, but I'm comfortable.
‘My game is pretty good and I know what to do and I've just got to get off to a good start of Thursday and keep it going.’
Habit of poor start hopefully a thing of the past
There was a relaxed air about his interview but also, as you can tell from the quotes, a real sense of knowing he has prepared well for this Masters. Let's hope he rids himself of a bad habit of starting poorly.
Only twice in ten starts in Augusta has he broken par and he has signed first round cards of between 74 and 77 on six occasions in those ten years.
A good start is critical to building momentum, and he won't lack motivation.
He added: ‘At the end of the day, my whole career is going to be judged on the majors.’
