Harrington happy to pay price of his fame

Heroes of the Ryder Cup are left in the shadows as the Dunhill Links Championship celebrates another festival of celebrity schmooze

Alasdair Reid , The Sunday Times, 6 October 2002

From the sublime to - well, just what exactly? A celebration of links golf, according to the promoters of the Dunhill Links Championship, but a decidedly subdued one as far as most observers have been concerned. If there is anything to be said in favour of this atmosphere-free amble across the linkslands of Angus and Fife, it is only that it is not quite so excruciatingly awful as last year.

For that we can give thanks to the weather and, in fairness, the organisers, who appear to have paid some heed to the barrage of criticism that they received 12 months ago. Yet there is still something decidedly unsettling about an event that unfolds as a festival of corporate scoffing, with its cast of bankers and property developers, ex-sportsmen and C-list starlets, on a four-day schmooze through the spiritual home of golf.

Given the presence of the likes of Ian Botham, Johan Cruyff, Don Johnson and Nigel Mansell in the field, perhaps they should re-brand the whole thing to add a little excitement. Something along the lines of ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Off The Old Course’, with viewers voting to get rid of the most irksome characters. What a sight for sore eyes it would be to see Jimmy Tarbuck being bundled away by the marshals before he even played a second shot.

Whoops, almost forgot the golfers. Which, in a nutshell, is the central problem with the Dunhill Links, for hidden away at the heart of this competition is a perfectly respectable tournament, struggling to get out. Only a week after one of the most exciting days the sport has ever known, it is a staggering scenario to find the conquering heroes of the Ryder Cup embroiled in an event that casts them into near anonymity.

Did Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, central figures at The Belfry, really need the company of JP McManus and Dermot Desmond as they set about their business as professional golfers yesterday morning? It all looked friendly enough on the first tee at St Andrews just after 10am, but Harrington and McGinley must have realised they had long days ahead of them as both their amateur partners sent second shots skittering into the Swilken Burn. And so it was to prove, for almost six hours were to pass before they could return to the locker room.

Harington appeared to be coping with the distraction, for he spent most of the day at the top of the leaderboard, cruising along nicely in the security of knowing that back-to-back rounds of 66 at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, on Thursday and Friday respectively, had placed him in a position of strength. However, the Dubliner stumbled towards the finish, carding a double-bogey at the Road Hole 17th when he took three putts from the edge of its infamous bunker, and signed for a 68. Still good enough for a share of pole position with Eduardo Romero, the Argentine shooting a round of 67 that moved him to an aggregate 16-under-par.

Harrington should still be considered favourite to take the £514,000 first prize, the largest ever offered in Europe outside The Open or World Golf Championship events. By his own admission, he was not at the top of his game at The Belfry, but save for the glitch at the 17th he has looked as assured as ever.

Assurance, too, from Nick Faldo, who came steaming into the picture with a 66, largely on the strength of a three-birdie blast just after the turn. The Englishman’s scoring lent weight to his aim of travelling to the 2004 Ryder Cup as a player rather than captain, a plan he is reluctant to alter in the light of confirmation that Sam Torrance will not be taking the reins again.

“I have made my final decision on the next Ryder Cup captaincy,” said Faldo.“I want to play on the team in ’04, although I’m not saying I don’t want to be captain in the future. Technically, my game is pretty good right now, I can build on that and play some more good golf in the coming years.”

Startling as Faldo’s round was, the overall performance of Sandy Lyle here has been even more astonishing. The 1988 Masters champion shot a 67 yesterday, his third sub-70 round in succession, and he goes into the final round in third place, behind Harrington and Romero.