Jeff Newton

Harrington in Tucson, Ariz., in February.

Optimism is the essential 15th club in the bag of a successful Tour pro. Exhibit "A": Padraig Harrington. Fighting swing changes in 2009, the Irishman played miserably in the first half of the year, missing five straight cuts. What didn't waver was Harrington's self-belief. Finally comfortable with alterations to the swing that brought him three majors, he logged top-10 finishes in his last six Tour starts.

We caught up with Harrington in Dublin as he looked forward to 2010 and took stock of an annus horribilis — and not just his own. He may have played poorly and lost money in a bad investment, but at least he didn't become tabloid fodder like Tiger Woods or get scalded for losing the Ryder Cup like Nick Faldo. Like we said, optimism is everything.

You went into 2009 having won three of the previous six majors, but then you started tinkering with your swing. People thought you were crazy.
Every winter I work on my swing to fix what I wasn't happy with in the season. Any time I've had success it's given me the breathing space to work on things. I was No. 3 in the world and trying to figure out how to improve. I assumed it was a winter thing but it dragged six months into the season. Once I had clarity I put it to bed and I played great. I've made changes before and no one noticed because I wasn't in the spotlight, and I covered it up with a good short game.

What exactly were you working on?
It was a number of things. The sequence of my downswing was out, which basically meant that my hips were late, causing my torso to be late. So I was trying to establish the timing of my downswing. I changed the impact position of my wrists so I'm more pronated than ever. I changed the coil in my backswing — I used to come out of my coil. But ultimately it came down to needing to stabilize my hips more so that my upper body is being forced to catch up, to keep accelerating.

Was there a moment in 2009 when you thought, 'I've got it!'
No. What happened in the middle of the year is that I got enough of an idea about things that I left it alone. I stopped working on it and played with what I had for the last three months. The first six months I got immersed in taking all the backward steps, and then I left it alone. The last few months I've been working on it. I'm still refining it at the moment but I don't envision bringing it very far into the 2010 season.

So how much of the turnaround in your results was confidence versus swing changes?
It had nothing to do with swing changes. It was focus, not confidence, a change from working on my swing to just getting the ball in the hole. There's a massive difference between wondering how you're doing it and just doing it.

Discount the Irish PGA — basically an office picnic for Irish pros — and you're winless since 2008.
That doesn't bother me. This has been going on with me for 20 years. Once I have results I start working on fundamentals. Then I come back to focusing on results when I need them. I tend to win when I've had a barren spell, win for a while, then I take stock of things.

After your first Open win, at Carnoustie, you told me your goal was multiple majors. Now that you have three, what's the goal?
It hasn't changed. Four of us have three majors, and then you've got Tiger, so it's a big step to get to four. The focus is to win the two that I haven't got. It's a question of setting myself apart. At the end of your career you'll always be judged on winning majors.

You've said that your father taught you to hit the ball straight, but then you realized that it's all about distance on Tour. Do you still fight that?
No. If I can keep hitting it the distance I'm hitting it now I'll be competitive for a number of years.

PGA Tour stats say you were 10 yards shorter off the tee in 2009.
Was I? See, I don't look at stats. That's interesting, because I gained length last year. I comfortably hit more fairway woods off the tee than most players. On the hole where driving distance is measured at Torrey Pines, I hit 5-wood. It's suicide to hit driver on that hole. So I wouldn't believe stats. There's no good player out there who has a driving-distance advantage on me. Length is not an issue.

Are the new grooves an issue for you?
I've had my wedges tested at every major since 2000. I've taken grooves to the limit and by doing that I made the USGA aware of what the potential was with grooves, and they've taken action. The new rule is going to make a difference to me. One set of clubs I use passed the groove test so I can use them, and those are the clubs I use in the majors.

You use different clubs for majors than for regular Tour events?
I've carried two sets of irons to every tournament for eight years. Out of two-inch rough, there's a 40-yard difference between how far my 7-iron with sharp grooves and my 7-iron with normal grooves will go. I've gone to every tournament for the past eight years, had a look at the rough, and decided which set of grooves were going to be most effective that week.