Darren Halley

Padraig Harrington, 3 Major wins and playing your cards right to watch Miami Vice Padraig Harrington is one of Ireland’s most interesting sport starts – if not the most interesting. When he was setting out as a raw rookie on the professional golf circuit, he was a curiosity to some, and a distraction to others. After a round in the K Club, one pro even asked why was this kid turning professional. “If I looked at myself back then I would have said the same thing,” Harrington tells Paul Kimmage in a fascinating conversation en route to Valhalla Golf Club, the venue of this week’s US PGA Championship. “I definitely didn’t have a pretty swing, I didn’t hit it very well, I didn’t strike it very well …” You can’t sing, you look awful, you’ll go a long way! And Harrington went a long way, winning three Majors in a brilliant career, breaking bred at the PGA Champions Dinner this week with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. “I’ve got to ask you about your attire, the white suit, the Don Johnson look,” says Kimmage. “It wasn’t a white suit – it was navy pants and a white jacket,” says Harrington. “It was a bit Don Johnson looking though.” And as he parks his car at his personal parking spot in Valhalla Golf Club, Harrington vows that he’s not just making up the numbers this week: “As an athlete you have to create some story around yourself. You have to create your own reality. We all do it. Some do it negatively, some do it positively.”