‘We can’t sit on our laurels’ – Padraig Harrington on Ireland’s diminishing tour presence

When Padraig Harrington teed it up in the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic, he was one of ten Irishmen in the field that week.

Paul McGinley and Raymie Burns were the best of the bunch in a tie for sixth as Des Smyth, Christy O’Connor Jnr, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy and David Higgins were joined by Ronan Rafferty and Daren Clarke.

This week, just three Irishmen will be in the field as Harrington joins Tom McKibbin and defending champion Rory McIlroy.

Harrington believes Ireland must continue to produce tour players, but he’s convinced we will go on to give the game more stars and future major contenders despite the dearth of talent coming through.

“I feel like we had some great golfers at that time, and obviously, we had a greater depth on the tour,” he said of his early days on tour. “We had 15 Irish guys on tour my first year, but I don’t think that’s anything to do with Ireland. I think that’s more to do with the development of the world game and the European game in particular when it comes to occupying the European Tour membership.

“You throw five lads in for Denmark, that’s five fewer guys, probably from Great Britain and Ireland. You know, that’s the reality of it. That’s how it works. Which is a good thing. It’s a bit more competitive at the top, but the rewards are great if you do get there.”

Irish golf had just one Major win in 1997, but we now have 11, with Harrington (three), McIlroy (four), Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry adding to Fred Daly’s 1947 Open triumph.

“In terms of players, it’s a much higher standard and the pool is smaller because of all the people are in there,” Harrington said. “So, I don’t have a problem with that. I think what we probably have done and will do going forward is when we do produce players, they will probably achieve at a higher standard because the ceiling has been broken.”

“If you become the top Irish player, you expect to be competing in majors. However, if you had become the top Irish player in the 90s, it might have been different.

“Ronan Rafferty won an Order of Merit. But I wonder, even with Ronan, was there a limitation on whether he felt he could win a major or not.

“The landscape has changed for sure. We were good enough to win tournaments back then. But now, we have not just some of the best players but some of the biggest players in the game with Rory probably the number one profile in the game outside Tiger.

“So yeah, we can’t sit on our laurels; we have to keep producing players, keep pushing it on and hopefully, for my own sanity, I really do need to have a few Irish players on tour.

“It’s a much, much bigger draw when you go to an event, and you have a couple of Irish lads, you know, that you can go out for dinner with and have a bit of craic. Selfishly, it’s very important that we get a few guys you can help. It’s a better life the more of us that are out there.”

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