Pádraig Harrington was yesterday named the European Tour Golfer of the Year for 2007 - and then showed he was taking nothing for granted in 2008.
The British Open champion referred in particular to next September's Ryder Cup; he is currently 13th in the standings that will go to decide the team captained by Nick Faldo in Kentucky and reckons the European squad will be the usual mixture of new and old.
He said: "The only thing I've got to make sure of is that I'm in there as one of the elder statesmen.
"There's plenty of work still to be done to get into that team and like any player I'll be anxious to get myself in early rather than late - you don't want to be sweating about it."
The 36-year-old, whose second son, Ciarán, was born on November 24th, lost out last year for the Golfer of the Year award to his Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey despite winning the Order of Merit.
But this time he won the vote of a panel of writers and commentators ahead of the US Open champion, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, and the new European number one, Justin Rose of England.
The Dubliner ended Europe's eight-year barren spell in majors when he beat Spain's Sergio Garcia in a play-off at Carnoustie in July.
No Irishman had lifted the Claret Jug since Fred Daly in 1947 and Harrington was the first from the Republic.
During the season he also became the first home winner of the Irish Open since John O'Leary in 1982.
"There were a couple of other wins in there, so it is really nice for it all to be recognised at the end of the season by being named the European Tour Golfer of the Year, an award I will treasure," said Harrington, who is in California this week for the Target World Challenge.
"Accolades like this are very rewarding, especially as time passes and it is a great reminder of what a great year 2007 was.
"There are obviously lots of things that happened this year that made it very special, starting with the birth of Ciarán, but following not too far behind was winning the Open Championship.
"Winning the Irish Open was another big one too. In my eyes it's the fifth major.
"It's my national event and when I get there it's incredibly hyped up and there's loads of expectation and pressure."
Cabrera's victory at Oakmont came a month before Carnoustie and meant that for the first time two European Tour players did the double of US Open and Open.
"Undoubtedly Angel had a great year too," added Harrington.
"He played some great golf at the US Open and his triumph there (holding off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk) was probably one of the most spectacular wins of the year.
"I remember watching it and I suppose it was all summed up by him sitting in the Oakmont locker room waiting for the guys to finish the last couple of holes."
