GOLF:NOW, OFFICIALLY, he is the poster boy of Irish golf. In an act of altruism – he will receive not a single red cent – Pádraig Harrington's image will be used in a global marketing campaign by Fáilte Ireland to entice tourists to visit this country's array of world-class courses.

Although the three-time major champion’s image will be the focal point of the campaign, for which Harrington has been given the title “Irish Golf Ambassador”, it will be backed by a substantial financial commitment of €1.5 million for the marketing blitz based around the theme Time to Play.

Some of the marketing makes use of Harrington nuances, including the story of how he chased rabbits around Stackstown as a four-year-old, and another that reminds people the claret jug was used to house ladybirds after his first British Open win at Carnoustie in 2007.

In Harrington’s eyes, this is his way of giving back something to support Irish golf tourism – not least given that, at one point in his career, the Dubliner was sponsored by the government agency with a “Golfing in Ireland” logo on his bag.

Now, he will promote golfing in Ireland on his global travels for nothing but the feel-good factor that being part of the campaign brings.

“It is great for me to be associated with the brand of Ireland, I’m thrilled to do it,” said Harrington.

It’s a measure of how important the golf tourism sector is viewed that the €1.5 million budget is twice what was spent in 2009, and is part of a €5 million spend which also includes input into development and staging of tournaments.

In acknowledging Harrington’s input, which Redmond O’Donoghue, the chairman of Fáilte Ireland, likened to a “a new kind of patriotism”, Minister for Sport Mary Hanafin remarked, “every country has its heroes, they don’t have Pádraig Harrington”.

The Dubliner, who missed the cut in last week’s Players Championship at Sawgrass, has spent the past few days working at home with putting coach Paul Hurrion.

“I’m optimistic about my game, that never changes. The weakest parts of my game have been very strong . . . I played probably the best golf I could have played on the Tuesday (before the Players) but pulled muscles in my neck on Wednesday, (and) I struggled with my alignment, did a couple of things wrong and didn’t putt so well.”

In claiming that the neck injury affected his “proprioception”, Harrington said he could understand why Tiger Woods took the decision to withdraw during the final round of the Players and claimed that he wouldn’t play a tournament again with a neck injury “unless it was a major”.

“I’ve played with a neck injury in the past. Now, if I injured my neck, unless it was a major, I’d pull out.

“Even though I can recover from it and you can actually physically hit the golf ball at times, it does far more damage for the following weeks.”