If there is a suspicion that Padraig Harrington's strike-rate in terms of winning tournaments is not what it should be, especially for someone who gets into contention so frequently, then the player himself is prepared to play the patience card.
"I must have had close to a dozen second places in just over a year," said Harrington, back home in Dublin for a few days break before rejoining the circuit for next week's Benson and Hedges International Open at The Belfry. In fact, his runnerup finish to Phillip Price in the Portuguese Open on Sunday was the 11th Harrington has had since the German Open in 1998, his fifth in the past 15 months, and his third so far this season.
Yet there is no sign of frustration. "I've been in a similar position before, back in my amateur days, when I didn't win as much as I probably should have. I've just got to be patient because the consistency is there and that is what we all strive for . . . consistency. The only reason I'm so patient is that this has already happened to me as an amateur," he explained.
Nobody can argue with Harrington's consistency. In four regular tournaments on the European Tour this season he has finished second, fifth, second and second. He leads the stroke average with 68.55, heads the greens in regulation category and is second in the putts per greens in regulation. He hasn't managed a win yet, but he argued: "If I had three missed cuts and a win, would that make it better? I have now got the consistency, but you always want something that you don't have.
"I can sit back and analyse (Sunday's round) all I like, but 70 was not a good score. I suspected it wouldn't be enough. But the thing is that I couldn't have played any better. I hit 18 greens in regulation and, normally, in the final round when you're in contention, you would tend to be a little bit more erratic because of the adrenalin and the pressure. I hit good putts all the way home and kept my spirits up, but they just didn't go in.
"It is all in my own doing, in terms of winning a tournament, but it seems at the moment that I just can't do enough. I've just got to move it up another notch and be consistent with it. However, I don't think there are too many other players who wouldn't like to be where I am," said Harrington, who is second in the European Ryder Cup qualifying table, is third in the money list and has consolidated his 20th position in the latest world rankings.
Harrington's next outing will be the International Open after which he intends to play in the TPC of Europe in Germany and then the Volvo PGA at Wentworth. "These are interesting times for me," admitted Harrington. "I'm playing well enough to go out and win. Maybe it means taking my breaks more, or just getting that little bit of luck, or chipping in at the right time. But I am very happy with things.
"I've been working on my swing for the past two and a half to three years and I am now at the stage where there is less work to be done. I am just finetuning what I have and that means I am able to concentrate more on the mental side of things and on scoring," he added.
Harrington is looking forward to his forthcoming tournaments to determine just where he is in his golfing development. "Traditionally, for some reason, I don't seem to play my best in the months of May and June. I used to put it down to studying for exams but obviously I can't use that excuse any more.
"I played well at the Belfry last year and I'm looking forward to going back there but I didn't play too well at the TPC when it was played on this course two years ago and I only seem to play well at Wentworth in the matchplay. It will be a good test for me, now that I have changed as a player, to go back to those venues in the next few weeks and see how I get on," he insisted.
Down the road, Harrington is also considering playing in the St Jude Classic on the US Tour the week before the US Open. Before then, the 29-year-old Dubliner would be more than happy to move on from finishing runner-up and claim his fourth European Tour title.
