Padraig Harrington May Miss Masters For The First Time Since 1999
By guest writer ZB
He may be the only person on the planet that thinks it, but Padraig Harrington still believes he can reignite his career, even though the 42-year-old Dubliner has been in the doldrums for the last few years.
Harrington’s golfing career has had a strange trajectory â€" good and disappointing in equal measure, apart from that unbelievable 13-month spell between July 2007 and August 2008 when he won two magical Open Championships and the PGA Championship.
Since his success at the Oakland Hills Country Club though it has been downhill for Padraig and he has now sadly gone 66 months without a win on either the US or European Tours and slumped to 133rd in the world rankings.
Indeed Harrington needs to secure a victory in a big tournament soon or he will not even be able to take part in the Masters in April.
At one time unthinkable, that would be quite a comedown for a man who has been an ever present at Augusta since 1999. However, he has failed to make the cut at the Masters in three of the last four years and, since his brilliant 2008, has had a poor by his standards record in the last 20 Majors, failing to win through to the final two days on eight occasions.
Last year was particularly disappointing, with a tied for 21st position at the US Open being his best finish in the four Majors.
According to the bet365 golf betting page, Harrington is also ineligible for the lucrative World Golf Championships, like the Accenture Match Play and the upcoming Cadillac at Doral, and without access to these lucrative events and the world ranking points that go with them, a rise back to the top seems tougher than ever.
Padraig’s prospects of playing in Paul McGinley's European team at September's Ryder Cup also appear to be extremely unlikely unless he can suddenly refind his form and return to the world’s top 50. At the moment, fans who bet on golf think such a prospect seems impossible.
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