Pádraig Harrington has spoken of his delight at taking part in the Olympics, and says he is as comfortable as he has ever been with many aspects of his game.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Harrington said that he was at the forefront of efforts to get golf into the Olympics seven years ago, and at the time expected to be competing.
Things didn’t look so good for a while with a slide in form, but “due to a bit of luck a couple of guys pulled out, turned in my favour and I am here, and I’m delighted to be here.”
He praised the organisers, saying: “In terms of a golf event it’s a great golf course, it’s well run, everything is like a normal golf event.”
The Irish golfer is enjoying the novelty of mixing with other sports stars, however, adding: “What’s different obviously is the Olympic Village and what goes on there, the logistics of it, the size of it, the people there, and everything that’s going on.
"It’s great for us, it’s great to see the other world in terms of sport.
"Every time we go down and eat in the village, we go down for a quick breakfast and it takes an hour because we just sit there people watching.
“We really want everybody who walks by to have a little placard saying what sport they do because you have to guess obviously; there’s all shapes and sizes in the village.
"It’s a fascinating place to be, it’s great that in another two days time we’ll be Olympic athletes too.”
Turning to his medal chances, Harrington said: “I’m probably the most comfortable I’ve been with many aspects of my game throughout my career at the moment; certainly hitting the golf ball, swing-wise and all that sort of stuff.
“I think mentally I might not be as good as I was in 2009 ... short game, some of it’s great, some of it isn’t great, but certainly I’m finding the game easier at the moment than I did at any time during my career.
“There’s no doubt I’d like to, this would be great on my CV; having won three majors this would really add to my career to go out there and win an Olympic gold medal.
"To win that though you have to just concentrate on the clichés of playing one shot at a time and just wait and see what happens, you can’t force it, I can’t win it on Tuesday and I certainly can’t even win it on Thursday.
"You have to be patient and work your way through the tournament.”
Séamus Power, the other member of Team Ireland’s golf contingent, is also hoping for big things in Rio.
Just a year and a half ago he was a paying spectator watching Harrington and Shane Lowry at Augusta, but now he’s playing alongside Harrington and hoping to make a major impact.
Power told RTÉ Sport: “It’s still all sinking in, I’m delighted to be here, it all kind of happened pretty quickly for me in the last few months, it’s something I wasn’t expecting ... but it’s great, great to be around so many good players and I’m looking forward to the week.”
When he didn’t get his PGA tour card last year he thought he had no chance of making the Olympics, but with withdrawals giving him the opportunity to compete, he was thrilled to take his chance, and is hopeful a good performance can give his career a boost.
“Representing your country, a chance to win a medal at the Olympics, hopefully that can be a springboard going forward for me.”
Harrington tees of tomorrow at 11.41am, alongside Matteo Manassero of Italy and New Zealand's Danny Lee.
Power starts at 12.47pm. The Waterford golfer is in a group containing Lin Wen-Tang of Taipei and India's S.S.P. Chawrasia.
