Padraig Harrington defended the absentee Ryder Cup rookies yesterday - especially his pal Paul McGinley.

McGinley, Phillip Price and Pierre Fulke all failed to qualify for this week's event, just a week before the Ryder Cup.

But Harrington reckons that his team mates have suffered enough pressure after being in the spotlight for over a year because of the postponement of last year's Ryder Cup.

"Guys like Paul have had to spend over a year justifying that they are Ryder Cup players," he complained.

"Every time they tee it up the question is asked, ' are you ready for the Ryder Cup or not?'

"People have been judging them on every round they play for eight or nine months and it puts a lot of pressure on. When I qualified for the first time it was late I was still on a high three weeks later when it was time to play.

"But Pierre Fulke qualified over 20 months ago and after every round he has had it's a question about the Ryder Cup and that's not good for your game."

Harrington feels that players like McGinley have nothing to prove at the Belfry next week.

"I think when the time comes these guys like Paul are just going to rise to the occasion after being scrutinized for a year. But I'm sure they will be delighted to have it over with at this stage."

Despite all the talk, the Ryder Cup is not what Harrington would describe as a pleasant experience.

"It's a roller coaster. You don't enjoy it at the time but the longer it goes afterwards, the more you think you enjoyed it at the time.

"When you are there you are thinking, 'this is a pretty gruelling experience' and the following week the last thing you would do is play another Ryder Cup.

"But three or six months after the event you want to play in another Ryder Cup and a year later you actually think you enjoyed the last one. It's not the best experience in golf but it's up there."

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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