Major chasing Padraig Harrington will rise at dawn in New York today to support Ireland's bid for World Cup glory.

Harrington begins the hunt for his first major title in the US Open in New York on Thursday.

But he will be up at 7.30 am local time in his New York hotel today to see the fighting Irish beat Saudi Arabia in Yokohama.

Said Harrington: "I will be wide awake to watch that game. They've done brilliant so far, haven't they? The pressure and the expectations on Ireland now are incredible but they can come up trumps I'm sure"

Like Ireland, Harrington has also had to deal with extra pressure after breaking into the top 10 in the World rankings last season.

He admitted: "I can identify with the Irish team alright. People expect me to win a Major and it's a nice pressure to have and now people are expecting us to reach the quarter-finals in Japan.

"It's a different kind of pressure for the World Cup team because before they went out nobody expected them to make it through the group.

"But in Ireland we are famous for our fighting qualities and I think they can do it. Hopefully I can have a good US Open too and get in contention."

Harrington has been under pressure to perform in the big tournaments since finishing fifth in the US Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 and fifth in the Masters at Augusta in April.

And he's even had to put up with criticism from people in the street after what some consider to be a slow start to his season.

"There's a lot more expectation about me and what I'm going to do every week and not just in majors," he revealed.

"Obviously there's more pressure with the majors and there are expectations there. But I've had a few people come up to me and suggest that I've been out of form this year but that's just that their expectations have changed so much.

"I'm judging by my own standards and as far as I'm concerned things are going quite nicely."

Last week Harrington spent a few days in Scotland with coach Bob Torrance, fine tuning his swing before the second major of the year at the fiendishly difficult Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island.

At 7,214 yards, the par-70 monster is the longest course in US Open history.

And two of the holes are also the longest par fours ever played in the event ­ the 492-yard 10th and the 499-yard 12th.

But despite the challenge, Harrington feels he has overcome his aversion to US Open style courses.

"In the past I thought I'd never be good enough to win at a US Open course. My ball flight was too low into very firm greens with tricky pin positions.

"But I have changed by swing over the past few years to hit a high ball that stops quickly.

"I hated those US Open courses before and I thought I'd never be able to play them but I'm beginning to come round to them. They have very fast, firm greens with tight pin positions. Down in Long Island you have a breeze but at the same time you have to hit the ball high so that's going to be the hardest thing about it."

Harrington's work with has helped him create a new swing that allows a higher ball-flight.

And that will be a vital weapon on a course that should play into the hands of world number one Tiger Woods.

Added Harrington: "In Europe we play on soft greens nearly every week so that's the biggest change. I've changed my swing to hit a higher ball but if the conditions require it I can hit it low.

"Generally people who hit it low can't hit it high but I can hit it both ways now after making those changes to my swing.

"The golf ball will be the only thing I will change. I'll use the Callaway HX Blue instead of my usual HX Red so that I can hit it in there with lots of spin and stop it quickly."

Rated a 50/1 chance with bookmakers Paddy Power, Harrington doesn't look beyond Woods when it comes to picking winners although he feels that Colin Montgomery could be a good outside bet.

He said: "I really don't worry what other people do and I don't usually look further that Tiger Woods anyway. But Monty, with pressure off, could do well. He's playing well and hits the ball low with his driver, and combined with the sand-based fairways which ill play like a links he'll be also be quite long as well as straight."

As for his own game, Harrington is quietly confident of his chances of picking up that first major title.

"I'm quite happy with my game. I've been just been with Bob for two days for a general service, nothing major to do, which is a good sign in itself.

"You don't want to be changing anything before you go into a big tournament yet if there was something to change you'd have to do but thankfully there's not too much to do.

"Results wise I have been okay and it's very early in the year to be honest. I've been working on a lot of things and haven't possibly reaped the benefits on the golf course yet but I'm happier for it, let's say."

The Masters in history now but Harrington us just pleased to have finished fifth at Augusta without playing his best golf.

"What was pleasing was to finish fifth comfortably, fifth playing poorly. I've finished fifth in majors before and this one was no great shakes. Okay, I played nicely at Augusta but didn't do anything special and I didn't hole any putts ­ I think I putted very average actually."

As for the US Open, Harrington is playing his cards close to his chest.

"I try to set a few goals and see how I can pan out. I could finish fifth the event and play terrible or come tenth and feel that I have played the best golf I could.

"The best thing is to set a few mental goals ­ such as staying patient or to play the right shot, something along those lines.

"You might decide on a strategy of hitting at the middle of the green all the time. But that's more difficult than it sounds because you are always going to be tempted to start looking at flags."

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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