If A Golfer Goes For Three Straight Majors ...

... and no one really pays attention, does it still count as pressure? Padraig Harrington is about to find out

After winning consecutive majors to end 2008, Padraig Harrington's bid for three straight has hardly raised a stir.

By John Hawkins

Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images

April 5, 2009

In a game where failure is a familiar foe, in a league where a ton of ability often produces five pounds of accomplishment, Padraig Harrington has become the biggest overachiever in golf's modern era. No player with a comparable talent level has done more than Harrington, which might be the ultimate compliment in today's hype-happy society, but it's not like the Irishman has the skills of a single-digit handicap.

You don't win three major championships with half a toolbox. You don't play in five Ryder Cups unless you can play, period, and Harrington certainly can, but after 12 years in the big leagues, his position in pro golf's empire seemed somewhat predetermined. He was a very good player, not a great one, a second-tier star best known for his grinder mentality and large pile of second-place finishes in Europe.

In 2005, Harrington, who was 33 at the time, committed to a full-time schedule in the United States, a move he thought would better equip him to contend at the majors and win one of those big trophies. Several high-profile Euros already were playing most of their golf on this side of the Atlantic, so it hardly was front-page news. That said, it quickly became apparent that Harrington was a lot different than most of his fellow transplants.

He wasn't here to stay in a nicer hotel, drive a fancier courtesy car or dine on the gourmet chicken salad in the lunch buffet. Paddy was here to get better. For all the talk about the hundreds of hours Vijay Singh spends on the practice range, Harrington couldn't have been more than a few minutes behind. There is no messing around when he hits balls, either. The guy goes about his business like a man about to tee off in the final group of a U.S. Open, and if there's any daylight left when he's done, he'll probably use it to work on his short game.

When Harrington arrives at next week's Masters in search of a third consecutive major title, his quest won't receive nearly the attention given to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the last two players who found themselves at the same historic juncture. Some of that might stem from the fact that he's not an American, as we tend to dump more love and scrutiny on those born in this country, but if Harrington has reinvented himself as a player by winning two British Opens and a PGA Championship in the last 21 months, he seems totally comfortable with the idea that it hasn't redefined him as a public figure.

"It has been a big bonus," Paddy says of the deflected spotlight. "Tiger is back and Phil has been playing great, which obviously [draws] huge media attention in the U.S., and with [19-year-old Irishman] Rory McIlroy coming on the scene, it has taken a good bit of the attention at home. It's all the better for me. It allows me to manage my own time and cope with what I'm doing."

There is a simple-minded optimism to Harrington that makes him easy to be around, hard not to like and tough to beat, especially in difficult scoring conditions. He rallied on the back nine Sunday to claim all three of his majors, an admirable and unlikely trait considering the venues involved. Carnoustie is as tough as it gets, although the R&A wisely softened the old bear after the debacle in 1999.

At Birkdale last July, a fierce breeze howled across the grounds all week; Harrington played the last eight holes in four under to win at three over par. And last year's PGA was more like a U.S. Open until heavy rain Saturday brought menacing Oakland Hills back to a challenging but reasonable state. "I don't think hes an overachiever," offers Woods' caddie, Steve Williams. "He's just a great player, and he knows how to finish a tournament."

There is no shame in getting more out of your game than most people would rightfully expect, especially after your 35th birthday has come and gone. To win three majors in a bunch at that point in your life is very unusual -- Nick Price is the only real obvious example, although Phil Mickelson didn't knock the chimp off his back until he was almost 34. Mickelson, however, has been dealing with irrepressible expectations his entire career.