Padraig Harrington

INSIDE THE ROPES
By TOM LaMARRE
The Sports Xchange

A year ago, Padraig Harrington was on the precipice of history.

With a victory in the Masters, he would have joined Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win three consecutive major titles, and there was even whimsical talk of a Paddy Slam.

Not only did none of it happen, Harrington was not really competitive throughout most of the season. He enters the Shell Houston Open this week without a victory since the 2008 PGA Championship.

However, with the Masters a week away, he seems to be close to the form that carried him to three major titles in 13 months.

"I'm capable of winning in the form I'm in," he said two weeks ago at the Transitions Championship. "Am I in my best form? No. Am I getting there? Yes.

"I'm kind of in the form that I was in at the end of last year. I'm out there, I'm right in the midst of it. I'm not far away. I'm happy that I've got ... another tournament before Augusta, let's say.

"I'm pretty much in the midst of playing golf at the moment and not too worried about technique."

Harrington attributes getting too caught up in the swing changes made by instructor Bob Torrance before last season for his struggles in 2009, when he did not finish in the top 10 until tying for second until the WGC-Bridgestone in August.

Once he started simply playing golf instead of thinking about how he was doing it, he reeled off six consecutive top 10s.

"I practiced easily into six months of the season last year," said Harrington, who has five PGA Tour victories among the 22 overall titles in his career. "I didn't start playing golf until Augusta. I have to clearly define my times I'm working on my game, and I'm playing and competing. ...

"I'll be better for it for making the mistakes I made last year, but there's no difference in the pressure, because the pressure to go win a major tournament, certainly for me, it's all internal. I want to win (the Masters) badly, so it's not like any outside expectations is affecting me anywhere. So the pressure is the same, but hopefully I've learned a few things from last year."

Harrington, who even before last year spent most of his offseason every year tinkering with his game, got off to another slow start this season before tying for third in the WGC-CA Championship and tying for eighth in the Transitions in his last two outings.

He admits to being a slow starter.

"It's a normal start for me," said Harrington, who climbed back into the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings with those two high finishes. "I've done a lot of work over the winter, and it just takes time to get back into competitive play. ...

"Mind you, I haven't won in a while, so a result would be nice, but it's more about putting yourself in competition right up there and testing yourself. ... I'm probably out of form. I slowly go back into form. So unfortunately I tend to show form before I win, like a good horse."

Harrington certainly wouldn't mind if that next victory came in Houston this week, but he has his eye on the bigger events down the road.

He's definitely a man with a plan.

"I'll be happy if I hit peak form from the Masters through to the Ryder Cup," the two-time British Open champion said. "(If you do), you're going to have a successful year.

"If you're going to pick a time to play well, play well through the four majors. If you're going to peak, make sure you hit it in the middle of the year. If you do look back, guys who are winning December and January don't normally have good summers."

Harrington has admitted that he has followed the Tiger Woods scandal in the tabloids and at Internet gossip sites, claiming that everyone is a bit of a voyeur.

Never one to shirk from a challenge, he is one player to say he would not mind being paired with the disgraced No. 1 at Augusta.

"It is as ordered as can be there, so I for one would be quite comfortable if I got drawn with Tiger," Harrington said. "I do not see it being any different than being drawn with him the first two rounds last year. I do believe, though, if it was first two rounds at Bay Hill, that would be slightly different. But then again, you wouldn't mind being there to watch it all. ...

"If I got paired with him, I would say good luck. I would make an effort to meet him before I was on the first tee. I would definitely make it my business to see him in the locker room beforehand or whatever so that I could say hello.

"There is going to be a bit more attention on it. It does make it a bit more E! Entertainment, doesn't it, rather than CBS?"

Paddy has made enough history to know something memorable when he sees it coming.



COMING UP

PGA TOUR: Shell Houston Open on the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 4-7 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday, 1-5 p.m. EDT on NBC, Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on NBC.

LAST YEAR: Paul Casey of England made a bogey on the first playoff hole, but it was good enough to beat J.B. Holmes, who made a double bogey by hooking his drive into a pond after waiting three hours in the clubhouse. The 31-year-old Casey had a chance to claim his first PGA Tour victory in regulation as the wind gusted to 30 mph at Redstone, but he hit his approach on No. 18 into a greenside bunker and two-putted for bogey from 36 feet to close with an even-par 72. That dropped him into a tie with Holmes, who finished with a 69.


CHAMPIONS TOUR: Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at TPC Tampa Bay in Lutz, Fla., April 16-18.

TV: Friday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday, 4-6 p.m. EDT on NBC, and Sunday, 1-3 p.m. EDT on NBC.

LAST YEAR: Nick Price overcame three double bogeys in the first 11 holes of the final round with three consecutive birdies on the back nine and claimed his first Champions Tour victory by two strokes over Larry Nelson. The 52-year-old Price, who won 18 times on the PGA Tour, including three major championships, was 0-for-38 on the Senior Circuit before breaking through. He blew a three-stroke lead early in the final round but posted seven birdies while closing with an even-par 71 that he said was one of the strangest rounds of his career.


LPGA TOUR: Kraft Nabisco Championship on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 5-7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2; Saturday, 7-9 p.m. EDT on ESPN2, and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT, CBS.

LAST YEAR: Brittany Lincicome blasted her approach shot from 210 yards with a rescue club to within four feet of the flag on the final hole and holed the eagle putt to claim a one-stroke victory over Kristy McPherson and Cristie Kerr. Lincicome, who opened with a 66 and closed with a 69, became the first American to claim a major championship on the LPGA Tour since Kerr won the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, and she won for the third time on the circuit, ending a winless streak of 41 events that dated to 2007.


NOTES, QUOTES

--Miguel Angel Jimenez could have been in Florida last week playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational as he prepares for the Masters.

However, Jimenez felt it was more important to not only play in the Andalucia Open near his home in Spain, but to help keep the tournament going without a title sponsor by financing the tournament on the European Tour.

"It makes me very proud to be promoting the Open de Andalucia de Golf," Jimenez said. "Everyone knows what a tough time it is around the world at the moment, and so I am very grateful to our sponsors, Junta de Andalucia and Valle Romano Golf Resort, for their support and for giving us the opportunity to stage this tournament again.

"Seville is one of the most beautiful and cultural cities in the world, and of course the great food, wine and weather helps, too. As the promoter, I am really honored that so many of the world's best players have chosen to come to play the Open de Andalucia de Golf."

The tournament was unable to attract a title sponsor because of the worldwide recession, and the purse was only $1.3 million, about the amount each of the previous three champions earned at Parador Golf Club.

Jimenez, who captured the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year, was determined to showcase the area of southern Spain where he was born and picked up the game as a caddie in Malaga.

He hopes the tournament makes money, but he will underwrite any losses.

--The Dallas County medical examiner's office has ruled that Hunter Green, the son of professional golfer Ken Green, died as a result of an accidental combination of alcohol and prescription drugs.

The autopsy report obtained by the Dallas Morning News said that the drugs in Green's system were muscle relaxants and painkillers. The 22-year-old sophomore was found dead in his dormitory room at Southern Methodist University on Jan. 22.

"Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family and loved ones of Joseph Hunter Green," the school said in a statement. "SMU continues its efforts to educate students about the risks of consuming alcohol while taking medication."

Green's sister, Brooke Baker, said her brother was prescribed the medications after suffering an injury.

It was the second family tragedy in eight months for Ken Green, a member of the Champions Tour. He had his lower right leg amputated last summer after a recreational vehicle accident in which his brother and girlfriend were killed.

Green has returned to the course with a prosthetic lower right leg and hopes to play again on the senior circuit.

--Michelle Wie has signed an endorsement deal with McDonald's, which will launch an advertising campaign next month in five languages.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"She is an excellent role model for youth looking to achieve personal success on a number of fronts, and as such, will be a tremendous representative for the McDonald's brand and our commitments to education," said Neil Golden, senior vice president of McDonald's USA.

The television commercials featuring Wie will be made in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Korean and Taglish, which is a combination of Tagalog and English.

She also will take part in McDonald's promotions that deal with education.

The 20-year-old Stanford sophomore from Honolulu, who is of Korean descent, claimed her first title on the LPGA Tour last year by winning the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

"I'm thrilled to be partnering with a global company like McDonald's, but I am especially proud of the message we are working to deliver together," Wie said. "Growing up, I was taught to believe in myself, to dream big, and that success is a team effort.

"It's a very important message, and I'm excited to work with McDonald's to share it with today's youth. I've lived it, and with the help of caring community partners like McDonald's, so many other kids can achieve their dreams, too."

Wie has previously done some charity work with the Ronald McDonald House in Hawaii.

McDonald's is the second sponsor deal that her management company, IMG, has acquired since taking over from William Morris. Wie recently signed a sponsorship deal with Korean automaker Kia.

--Fred Funk's results are not up to his standards just yet, but he is confident that they will get better after he underwent knee replacement surgery on Nov. 16.

The 53-year-old Funk, who has a metal and plastic right knee, shot 75-74--149 and missed the cut by four strokes in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week after tying for 55th in the Transitions Championship.

His best finish in four starts on the Champions Tour was a tie for 21st in the Ace Group Classic.

"The good thing with what I've got going now is that it's going to get better and better as the year goes rather than deteriorating as it has the last two years," said Funk, who has won eight times on the PGA Tour and five times on the Champions Tour.

"By the end of both years, especially last year, I really had a hard time playing and walking, and just even wanting to play."

Funk said he was "waving" at balls only six weeks after the surgery and that the knee is pain-free, but that he must continue to build strength in the surrounding muscles.

One of the biggest adjustments has been trusting the new knee.

"It took awhile to really start swinging full at them," Funk said. "I'm still working at that because it fatigues out on the back nine. It takes a while to get it loose, and then once I get it loose, it's good for a while and then it starts fatiguing up. So it kind of goes through stages."

Funk is exempt on the PGA Tour through the end of 2011 by virtue of his victories in the 2005 Players Championship and the 2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun.

He also qualified for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in June by winning the U.S. Senior Open by six strokes last year, when he shot 7-under-par 65 in the final round at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

Funk is using several PGA Tour events as preparation for the second major of the season, but he plans to concentrate on the Champions Tour for the rest of the season.

--PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has been criticized by some players because he sent a memo to tournament directors explaining why Steve Elkington needs invitations to get into tournaments this year.

David Duval and Tim Herron, who also are seeking sponsor's exemptions this year, were not happy when they learned of the memo.

"I think it's out of line," said Duval, who has won 13 times on the PGA Tour, but not since the 2001 British Open, and has only conditional status this year. "It never crossed my mind to ask Tim to do that for me."

Elkington had been exempt for 23 consecutive years until the former 1995 PGA champion finished 183rd on the money list last season and lost his card.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Finchem's memo, which was dated Nov. 23. Herron, who has been writing tournaments for exemptions this year, said it smacked of favoritism.

"That's terrible of the tour," Herron said at Bay Hill, where he was playing last week as a past champion in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "The tour needs to be unbiased and treat everyone the same.

"That's like a slap in the face. Nothing against Steve Elkington. But the tour is supposed to represent the players as a whole, and not just one player."

Elkington has played five times this season, although he has yet to receive a sponsor's exemption. He got into four tournaments through his status as a past champion, and played in the Transitions Championship because of a top-10 finish the previous week in the Puerto Rico Open.

Elkington told KRIV-TV in Houston that he did not believe what Finchem did was favoritism.

"All I did was call Tim Finchem to see if he could get the board to consider giving me (an exempt) year since I met the requirements for the Hall of Fame, which is 10 wins and two wins in the majors," Elkington said.

"I won the PGA and the Players Championship, which counts. Finchem came back to me and said that wouldn't happen, but he said that he would be happy to write a letter for me and let the tournaments know my status has changed and how much I have meant to the tour over the last 23 years.

"I'm not bothered by what Duval and Herron said. It's a complicated situation, and I don't begrudge anyone who gets to play because everyone wants to play on tour."

Elkington was eligible for a one-time exemption, had he needed it, for several years because he was in the top 50 on the all-time PGA Tour money list.

However, by the time he needed it, he had slipped to 57th.

"We've done it with other players," said Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour. "If there's a unique change in eligibility or status ... we've done it a number of times.

"If there's a unique change to a player's status that we feel tournaments need to be aware of, we do that."

George confirmed the tour wrote a similar memo on behalf of Mark Brooks, another former PGA champion, who has limited status and who must play at least 15 tournaments this year to be able to defer his retirement package.


COURSE SOURCE

IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Cozumel Country Club in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

THE LAYOUT: The Mayans founded magnificent communities by slicing through the jungle along the Yucatan Peninsula some 1,500 years ago.

Nicklaus Design Group has done much the same in creating a splendid golf course at Cozumel Country Club, clearing away red mangroves and other native flora in the natural wetlands on this island in the Caribbean Sea, just off the Eastern tip of Mexico.

It took five years and more than $12 million to sculpt the acclaimed 6,734-yard, par-72 course in the limestone, coral and saltwater marshes along Cozumel's northwest shore before it finally opened late in 2001.

Explorer Hernan Cortez landed on Cozumel in 1519 and the Mayans began to disappear, with the population dwindling from 40,000 when the Spanish arrived to about 300 in 1570.

Pirates Jean Lafitte and Henry Morgan used the island as a refuge in the 17th century.

It was another 300 years before Nicklaus arrived.

GENERAL MANAGER: Benny Campos, who came to Mexico after serving as head professional at Redhawk Golf Course in Sparks, Nev., near Reno, and at Apple Mountain Golf Resort near Placerville in Northern California.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Because of the omnipresent wind and the lay of the land, Nicklaus Design actually created two nine-hole golf courses.

The South Texas Golf Association has given the back nine a slope rating of 142 from the tips, while the front nine is rated at only 123.

In addition to the wind, sometimes a breeze and at others a gale, water comes into play on 13 holes at Cozumel Country Club. Be on the lookout for the crocodiles, especially in the ponds in front of the second tee and between the 14th green and 15th tee.

Even more menacing is the finish, despite the fact that the 172-yard, par-3 17th hole is rated as the easiest on the course. That's because the 16th (571 yards, par 5) and 18th (382 yards, par 4) are probably the most difficult since they generally play into the wind and require long carries over the mangroves.

There is varying terrain at Cozumel Country Club. After playing the first two holes with jungle bordering both sides of the fairway, the golfer reaches a clearing where Nos. 3 and 6 play alongside a large lake.

The 499-yard third hole is a reachable par-5 that tempts the golfer to go for the green in two. The seventh is rated No. 1 on the card, a dogleg left par-4 that measures 407 yards, usually into a wind that blows left to right.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: There are no other courses on Cozumel, but there is plenty more golf on the Mayan Riviera.

Cancun offers the Caesar Park Cancun Golf and Beach Resort plus the Hilton Cancun Beach and Golf Club, and the Melia Cancun Golf Club, an 18-hole par-3 course.

The Golf Club at Moon Palace near Playa del Carmen is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, and the Playacar Club de Golf near Xaman-ha was designed by noted architect Robert Von Hagge.

Also on the golf map are Club de Golf de Yucatan in Merida and the 9-hole Puerto Aventuras Club de Golf on the Cozumel-to-Chetumel Highway.

WHERE TO STAY: There are plenty of resort hotels near Cozumel Country Club, including the Presidente Cozumel Resort, the Paradisus Cozumel, Sol Cabanas, the Reef Club, Plaza Las Glorias, Playa Azul Hotel, the Fiesta Americana, El Cid Ceibas, the Iberostar Cozumel and the Melia Cozumel -- most offering stay-and-play packages.

Cozumel Country Club was built with cruise ships in mind as nearly two million tourists and one million crew members, many who play golf, arrive by sea every year.

Princess, Carnival, Norwegian, Celebrity, Disney and Holland America all have Cozumel on their itineraries and are in port often.

On the web: http://www.cozumelcountryclub.com.mx


THE LAST RESORT: Palmilla Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.

THE LAYOUT: The first Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Latin America, opened in 1992, is one befitting the elegant Palmilla -- one of the great hotels of the world that was a hideaway for the likes of President Eisenhower, John Wayne and Bing Crosby in days gone by.

Palmilla Golf Club is located in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains and has views of the Sea of Cortez on virtually every spectacular hole.

The course plays to roughly 6,900 yards, with a rating 74.3 and slope of 144 from the back tees, no matter which combination of the Ocean, Mountain and Arroyo nines the golfer takes on.

The Arroyo Nine and the Mountain Nine are of traditional Mexican design, and Jack Nicklaus said creating the newer Ocean Nine was like "designing desert mountains by the sea."

There is 600 feet of elevation change on the first six holes of the Ocean Nine, which runs right down to the rocky coast.

CLUB MANAGER: Jason Ballog.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: There was no golf in Los Cabos -- a world-class sport-fishing destination -- until the early 1990s, but now there are seven places to play, and 63 of the 144 holes have Golden Bear tracks on them.

Golf at Palmilla is like playing a great desert course -- arid weather, target golf -- only with the Sea of Cortez as a backdrop.

The most unique hole is No. 5 on the Mountain Nine, a 401-yard par-4 on which the drive must carry 150 yards across a canyon to a plateau fairway. The approach shot is downhill across another abyss to a green nestled in a box canyon.

Most spectacular is the third hole of the Ocean Nine, a par-5 that plays 485 yards downhill to within a few steps of the beach. The drive from an elevated tee must carry the old highway and a dry wash, with magnificent homes lining the cliffs.

High point of the facility comes on the Arroyo Nine at the 566-yard par-5, which offers a panoramic view of the Sea of Cortez.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: About 10 miles down the road from Palmilla is another Nicklaus creation, the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol, which the best golfer of all-time has called "The greatest piece of golf property on earth." Tom Weiskopf, Nicklaus' former teammate on the golf team at Ohio State, added the Desert Course at Cabo del Sol in 2001.

Also located on the 18-mile tourist corridor from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo are the Nicklaus-designed El Dorado Golf Club; Querencia Golf Club, which was Tom Fazio's first venture outside the United States; Cabo Real Golf Club, designed by Robert Trent Jones II; the Raven Golf Club, formerly Cabo San Lucas Country Club, designed by Pete Dye and featuring the longest hole in Baja, at 620 yards; and the 9-hole Campo de Golf Los Cabos, a municipal layout (with plans to add a second nine) in San Jose del Cabo that was the first course in the area when it opened in 1991.

Los Cabos was the site of the PGA Senior Slam five times. Raymond Floyd won in 1995 on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol and repeated at Cabo Real in 1996, Hale Irwin won at Palmilla in 1997, and Gil Morgan won on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in 1998 and at Cabo Real in 1999.

WHERE TO STAY: The Palmilla Resort, which has been one of the most elegant beach hideaways in the world since 1956, was given an $80-million renovation a few years ago by One&Only Resorts. Palmilla annually is listed among the World's Best Golf Resorts by Travel & Leisure. It is located minutes from Cabo San Lucas on the southernmost tip of Baja California, Mexico, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez.

Among the many other resorts in Los Cabos are the Fiesta Americana Grand Resort, the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort, the Westin Regina Resort, Las Ventanas al Paraiso, the Crown Plaza Los Cabos, the Fiesta Inn Hotel, the Presidente Inter-Continental Los Cabos Resort, the Grand Baja Resort and Spa, the Playa Grande Resort, the Hotel Twin Dolphin, the Pueblo Bonito Rose Resort, the Casa del Mar Golf and Spa, and the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort.

ON THE WEB: http://palmilla.oneandonlyresorts.com/activities/golf.aspx; http://www.palmillagc.com/index.html