MoreSAN DIEGO (AP) — He captured more majors than anyone last year, won every player of the year award on golf's landscape and will make his PGA Tour debut this week in the Buick Invitational.
The story should sound familiar, just not the name.
``Never really thought of it that way,'' Padraig Harrington said Wednesday.
Instead of Tiger Woods, the feature attraction at Torrey Pines is Harrington, who has won three of the last six majors, including consecutive titles last year in the British Open and PGA Championship.
Harrington is No. 3 in the world, the highest-ranked player at the Buick Invitational by a small margin over hometown star Phil Mickelson. And while Lefty figures to attract the largest gallery - the security detail that usually follows Woods has been assigned to him - the Irishman was the No. 1 pick at the pro-am draw party.
This will be the earliest Harrington has started on the PGA Tour, but he could not think of a better place.
He was at Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open last summer, but this is his first time to play the Buick Invitational. He spent his pro-am Wednesday on the North course, which in June was occupied by parking lots, practice areas, corporate tents and the media center.
Reaching the crest of the fifth fairway, staring below at the green, the cliffs and the Pacific Ocean, Harrington caught himself.
``This is a particularly pretty view,'' he said, a rare understatement by his standards.
And when one of his amateur partners asked him to list his favorite golf course in America (not counting Augusta National), Harrington listed the next three tournaments on his schedule - Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera, the only time in PGA Tour history that three straight tournaments are held at U.S. Open venues.
What kind of game he will bring to those courses remains a mystery.
``Less than sharp,'' Harrington said.
He takes a two-month break from tournament golf during the winter, but he is always working, always refining his swing to find a way to make it better. He concedes that it takes time for the moving parts to get in sync.
``You can practice as much as you like, go on the golf course and play as much as you like,'' he said. ``But it's totally different when you have a card in your hand.''
Good thing his card on Wednesday was only for a pro-am.
