Padraig Harrington may have been pipped by one shot by Jeev Milka Singh in the Singapore Open at the weekend, but I don't expect he'll lose too much sleep over it.
He's completing the tail end of a phenomenal 2008 season in which he captured two M
ajor titles, and at last emerged as a true great.
Apparently, of those who have played five or more rounds with Tiger Woods, he's the only player to have outscored him.
That says a lot not just about his quality, but also about his character and nerve.
Unlike a lot of players, even among the higher ranks, he's clearly not intimidated by playing alongside Woods, so it's not surprising he's been able to steel himself to get over the line in three Majors now.
If I were in the same position after the campaign he had, I think I would be sorely tempted to coast through these faraway events and look forward to putting my feet up over the Christmas period.
Harrington's still clearly hungry for more success though, so don't bet against him pulling in another title or two before the year's out.
TALKING of Tiger Woods, he crossed my mind the other day when I was on the short ninth at my course.
It was one of those rare, sorry, very rare, occasions where I'd pinged an eight iron straight at the pin.
And luckily, the green was soft and it stayed there, about three feet from the stick, near enough for me to summon up my last reserves of concentration to knock it in.
Alright, it was a routine birdie on the easiest par three on the course.
But I thought to myself, as I always do on those occasions, "Blimey, if I'd have been playing Tiger Woods, I'd have halved that hole, and possibly, just possibly, even won it."
It's sad I know, but it's thoughts like that that cheer up middle to high handicap golfers like myself.
We may never win any trophies, we may insist we play the game for enjoyment to cover up the fact that we ain't good enough to win 'owt, but every now and again, we chalk up a little personal victory which makes it all worthwhile.
I wonder if that birdie's pushed me up the Ryder Cup qualifying points table?
The full article contains 411 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
