Padraig Harrington

Harrington is our most successful golfer and will be for some time yet. I think he didn't realise he was in a purple-patch when he won his 3 majors and felt he should have won everything he entered and told everybody the same. This has put pressure on him at a time when he should IMO have been celebrating his achievements. Graeme McDowall in comparision is delighted with his US Open and has not mentioned anything about future majors.

What I really admire about Harrington is what he achieved through dogged determination to overcome a very average long game (his short game has always saved him).

Agree with Complainer re the eye surgery though - he and McGinly both had their eyes done elsewhere.
 
Homer said:
Well said. I don't really understand why I got such a negative response to my original post.
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particularly the way when he marked his score card wrong and got thrown out of a competition. It was the manner in which he handled this that really set him apart from other alleged sport stars. Granted it was his own mistake but this is what made it better.

I also find his walk brilliant - you just know he's irish !!
 
Just a quick point, I don't think the commercial aspects such as endorsements should come into a debate about how good a sportsman he is. That is business and nothing to do with his sporting prowess.
 
MrMan said:
Just a quick point, I don't think the commercial aspects such as endorsements should come into a debate about how good a sportsman he is. That is business and nothing to do with his sporting prowess.
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Come on, he's carrying a golf club, wearing his golfing gear, and talking about improving your golf game in the advert in question.

Kinda hard to seperate that from his golf career.
 
PyritePete said:
particularly the way when he marked his score card wrong and got thrown out of a competition.
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+1

Character is defined by what you do when no-one is looking. Only Harrington knew that the ball had moved. He called it himself and, if for no other reason, deserves our admiration.
 
TarfHead said:
+1

Character is defined by what you do when no-one is looking. Only Harrington knew that the ball had moved. He called it himself and, if for no other reason, deserves our admiration.
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Absolutely.

Padraig and his wife also do a lot of charity work for a charity I am involved with.

He's an all round good egg. Pity there isn't more like him.
 
TarfHead said:
+1

Character is defined by what you do when no-one is looking. Only Harrington knew that the ball had moved. He called it himself and, if for no other reason, deserves our admiration.
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Well said. Honesty is a fantastic trait in an individual. Its great to be remembered for doing something like he did in that situation. We have too many instances of cheating across the board in sports, for some people its win at all costs.
 
YOBR said:
Begs the question, how did he win three majors?
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One could be cynical and say he won the '08 Open and PGA when his most likely challenger, Tiger Woods, was recuperating from knee surgery.

Or, you could be critical and say outside of his 3 major victories his record in majors is not great (for a top ranked golfer), i.e. not too many top 10 finishes outside his 3 major wins compared to the likes of Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els who are consistently placed in the top 10 of majors. Although you could just as easily be critical of Mickelson and Els for not winning more majors with their talent.

At the end of the day Padraig Harrington is a 3-time major winner and there are not too many golfers past and present who can claim such a distinction!
 
Complainer said:
Come on, he's carrying a golf club, wearing his golfing gear, and talking about improving your golf game in the advert in question.

Kinda hard to seperate that from his golf career.
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Yes he has the profile because of his sporting career, but it is just business when he is endorsing products and doesn't impact on his calibre as a sportsman.
 
MrMan said:
Yes he has the profile because of his sporting career, but it is just business when he is endorsing products and doesn't impact on his calibre as a sportsman.
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To me, it impacts my opinion of his ethics. I'm interested to see others praising his honesty on the golf course. Yet the first round of adverts that he did had to be withdrawn, as these implied that he had got his eyes done with the crowd paying for for ads.
 
Ash 22 said:
Complainer I agree with you there, he should not have done those adverts.
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Ah come one.

Do yee really believe that every other sports star out there uses whatever product they endorse when they are in their own time? (Lets exclude people whio must do this for contractual reasons)

See that lucozade sport ad with Colm Cooper?
Are you really that sure that he only took on that ad in the first place because he happens to think it's a great product?

Do yee really belive that all other sportsstars only endorse products they happen to use already ?

I presume you don't - in which case harrintom is no worse than any of these.
And lets face it - we'd all do it too if we got the chance.
 
MrMan said:
Yes he has the profile because of his sporting career, but it is just business when he is endorsing products and doesn't impact on his calibre as a sportsman.
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+1... I make a clear distinction between his sporting abilities and his business affairs.

If we're talking calibre of sports stars, just take a look at the buffoons in the Premier League doing their post match interview with their sports drinks - in fairness they had to be told these were actual sports drinks
 



Sorry - it seems that my expection of a little bit of honesty is just out of the question!

I do get very disappointed when I see people like Harrington or George Harrison selling out for a few extra quid for advertising. It's not as if they need the money. It's just pure greed. The least they could do is advertise something that they believe in.
 
All this talk, especially Pete calling him Hookster reminded me of a joke.

A man goes on holiday to Portugal, meets the girl of his dreams and they quickly fall in love. Before they are due to return to Ireland, the man says he has a confession. "I eat sleep and drink golf, honey. There's every chance that I'll not have much time for you, if it gets in the way of my golf. Can you still love me, even knowing that?".

"Well", she says. "While we're being honest, I have a confession to make too. I'm a hooker". "I see" he says. "Well, it's probably because you're not keeping your wrists straight when you swing".... :O
 
ivuernis said:
At the end of the day Padraig Harrington is a 3-time major winner and there are not too many golfers past and present who can claim such a distinction!
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I think that is the salient point...he is a three time major winner and hopefully there will be future major wins for him..
 
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