Ice cool Padraig Harrington ground out a clinical two under par 70 in sweltering heat at the K Club yesterday. But the young Dubliner is on the prowl for richer pickings than the £2 million Smurfit European Open ­ a major championship.

According to his coach Bob Torrance, hardworking Harrington will win one of the four major championships within the next couple of years.

Torrance said: "There's no question. I think Padraig will win a Major within the next year or two. He is undoubtedly the most improved player in the world in recent times and you could see that at in the US Open at Pebble Beach last year where he could have finished second had he not called a penalty on himself."

The 29 year old went to Torrance two and half years ago and said: "I'm prepared to make a lot of changes. I want to be the best golfer in the world." Since then he has reinvented himself as a player and used his mental toughness to become one of the men to beat.

And it showed on one of the toughest courses on the European Tour yesterday where he recovered from a poor run early in his round to play the last 12 holes in two under par. After starting with birdies at the second and the par five fourth, bogeys at the fifth, sixth and 11th, forced the Irish star to work hard for his score.

Level par at the turn, Harrington birdied the par five 10th from six feet, gave the shot back at the next where he was stymied by a tree, and then had a two at the 12th thanks to a six iron to 15 feet to get to one under. Another chip and putt birdie at he last left him with a smile on his face despite missing a handful of excellent chances throughout a workmanlike round.

Harrington said: "It was a grind alright, and after the start and I had one eye on safety on the way home. But in the past it could have been 74 or a 75 but there is still a long way to go in the tournament and I'm well in the hunt.

"I missed a few chances out there - on the 8th and 9th from about eight feet and again on the 13th, the 16th and 17th where I lipped out but I'm pleased with my concentration on the back nine."

That concentration is just one of the weapons the soft-spoken Ryder Cup star has mastered in recent times. Working with Torrance, Harrington has completely revamped his swing, adding a massive 30 yards to his driving distance, and leaping from nowhere to 20th in the world rankings.

Added Torrance: "Don't get me wrong, Padraig wasn't a bad player before he came to me, but he was prepared to make a lot of changes to his swing. We changed everything and I'd say that he has everything it takes to win a major championship."

Harrington and Torrance Senior worked intensively together in the run-up to the Murphy's Irish Open. And they've continued in that vein this week as Harrington bids to hit top form in time for the Open at Royal Lytham and St Anne's in two week's time.

Ranked 24th in the world at the start of the season, Harrington jumped four places to 20th thanks to last Sunday's seven under par 64 at Fota Island. But according to Torrance, that first major championship is just around the corner.

Said the Scot: "A coach is only as good as his pupil and Padraig has got everything it takes. "He's incredibly dedicated and if he gets a chance to win he'll take it. He's got heaps of talent and above all, he's a wonderful person."

Like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, Torrance feels that Harrington's happy-go-lucky on-course attitude will win him a lot of friends.

"Woods smiled and tipped his cap even when he hit bad shots at last year's Open and Padraig has that quality, as Nicklaus had," he said But it hasn't been easy for the Dubliner to transform his game from that of a top amateur to one of the best in the world.

Torrance explained: "We had to change absolutely everything. Some changes mean that a couple of other things are sorted out automatically but normally you have to change them one at a time.

"With Padraig we have worked so that he now creates more leverage in his swing and can hit the ball 30 yards further off the tee.

"Golf starts from the ground up so we worked on his leg action and then on his takeaway and then on the start of his downswing where his right elbow was too deep and he wasn't getting the right strike."

With two wins on tour last season in Brazil and Spain, Harrington has consolidated his position this term with four runners-up spots and two fifth place finishes in eleven events. Earnings of £444,066 sterling put him fourth in the Order of Merit and after his Murphy's Irish Open exploits the Dubliner now tops the Ryder Cup Points table from Pierre Fulke and fellow countryman Darren Clarke.

But while Harrington was grinding out the kind of rounds that have marked him out as one of the truly great professionals on tour, it was another forgettable day for the rest of the Irish competitors.

Apart from Harrington, Paul McGinley was the only Irishman to match the course on his way to a level par 72 as all the remaining home players finished over par. A double bogey at the eight where he found water saw the Dubliner turn in two over par.

And although he hit back with a hat trick of birdies from the 10th he lost his momentum when a blocked three iron at the par three 14th forced him to take another bogey and go back to level par.

Said McGinley: "I had too many mistakes again. I hit two loose shots at the 8th and the 14th and paid the price by dropping three shots. It was obviously a little tougher in the afternoon with the slight breeze making it harder to get up at the par five 18th.

"But this is no Mickey Mouse course and I would have been happy with a 69. Level is okay and not a bad start but I'll have to keep working at it."

The K Club took its fair share of Irish victims on a perfect day for golf. Damien McGrane was left to regret some poor driving in his 73 while Des Smyth came undone at the fearsome 424 yard 17th on his way to a three over par 75.

Two under par to the turn, the Drogheda man was level par playing the penultimate hole but pulled his drive into the river Liffey that guards the left hand side of the fairway to run up a triple bogey seven. Said Smyth: "It's disappointing. I was starting to leak a few shots on the back nine and the 17th just put the tin hat on it for me."

Stephen Hamill and David Higgins both shot two over par 74s to maintain their hopes of making the cut. But Eamonn Darcy (75), Philip Walton (76) and John Dignam (77) will all struggle to make the cut tonight.

One man who certainly won't make the weekend is former European number one Ronan Rafferty. The Warrenpoint man, 37, failed to make even one birdie yesterday and slumped to an eleven over par 83 that included three double bogeys and five bogeys.

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© Brian Keogh 2001

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