Pádraig Harrington’s dipping in and out of and between the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour is obviously working, as his victory in the Hoag Classic – on the Seniors circuit – is followed this week by a shift back to the PGA Tour on a sponsor’s invitation to the Houston Open where he will again test his game against the younger bucks.
For the 52-year-old Dubliner, the latest win on the Champions Tour brought his career successes on the over 50s circuit to seven, one more than his total on the PGA Tour, and brought his career professional wins – which vary from his three Majors to Irish PGA Championships – to a not-to-be-sniffed-at 38, proof of his competitive longevity.
Yet, for all of that, the sight of him whisking around the golf course in a motorised toy car after his victory in California was one that showed how the sense of fun which has accompanied each of his career wins remains very much to the fore.
“This is the great thing about the Champions Tour, it allows us to relive our past glories. We get to hit shots where we feel anxious, we feel nervous, we feel excited. And it doesn’t change, when you’ve got a putt to win or a shot to win, you don’t want to mess up in front of people. As I said, what other tour like the Champions Tour gives you that opportunity for glory, to be excited, the fun of it.
“It’s just phenomenal out here that we can come back out after, you know, 25 years of playing professional golf, I’m back out here still enjoying it and winning and hitting shots and feeling under pressure,” said Harrington.
Harrington’s clubhead speed is as fast as it ever has been, testimony to his work ethic and which also explains why he is comfortable flitting between life on the regular tours – be that the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour – and the Champions Tour.
In a way, he’d like to have stayed on the Champions Tour for this week’s Galleri Classic in Rancho Mirage, California.
“You know what, I kind of wish I was going down to the Champions Tour next week in some ways, but Houston, I’ll take it as well if you go there and play well. I still think I can compete with the young guys. Unfortunately, when I turn up I always end up maybe trying to play my very best whereas when I come to the Champions Tour, you know, you feel a bit more relaxed, you feel a bit more comfortable.
“There’s no cut out here so you always feel like you have a chance, you’re going to be there on Sunday and you tend to play a little better out here because of that,” said Harrington.
Indeed, Harrington’s typical resilience was again evident to his latest win on Sunday when he overcame two double-bogeys on his card to still get the job done.
Harrington has literally been all over the place on his scheduling this year, with two outings on the PGA Tour (the Mexico Open and the Cognizant Classic); two on the DP World Tour (in the Dubai Desert Classic and the Ras al Khaimah Championship), and three on the Champions Tour (in the Chubb Classic, the Cologuard and the Hoag Classic).
For this week, Harrington is the sole Irish player in the field for the Houston Open with Shane Lowry taking a break after a four-week stint that took him from Florida to Singapore; Rory McIlroy on a two-week break before returning for next week’s Valero Texas Open ahead of the Masters, and Séamus Power taking a week off before also teeing up in San Antonio.
Leona Maguire, meanwhile, will take much momentum from a top-15 finish in the Seri Pak with her on to this week’s LPGA Tour stop – the Ford Championship in Gilbert, Arizona – where Stephanie Meadow, who had to withdraw from last week’s tournament before it started, also returns to action.
