Harrington: relaxed
If you can get around Augusta, hit the shots out here, there's no golf course you can't play.
Padraig Harrington
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Padraig Harrington has always wanted to play well in the majors, but with the mantle of one of the best players never to win one removed following last year's Open triumph, the Irishman says he now expects to.
Preparing for the start of the Masters on Thursday, Harrington does so in the knowledge that he now has both the game and the temperament to withstand four days of some of the most intense pressure professional sport can muster.
His triumph at Carnoustie - where he defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff - having thus provided him with the boost of confidence and experience required, Harrington hopes to make full use of both this weekend.
"I think winning at Carnoustie does a couple of things for me," the 36-year-old said.
"I can look back to that and use it as a yardstick to judge what preparation is good for me.
"Having won a major, if I am in contention again, I assume that I feel a little bit more relaxed about it.
"But I won't know until I'm in that situation whether it is a bonus having won one major before, but I assume it is."
Harrington's best result at Augusta National was a tie for fifth place in 2002 and last year's Masters also produced a good performance when he finished joint seventh.
Experience
And, with an ever-increasing bank of experience to fall back on, Harrington is of the belief that, respect for the course's lightning-fast greens aside, too much preparation can in fact be detrimental to a player's performance.
"I did practise for four hours on the putting green, which is not what I initially planned but I was a bit uncomfortable on the greens so I needed a bit of work," he continued.
"People tend to overdo it. I think the more you play the golf course, the more experience you have of it, the less you feel that you have to go out there and cover every blade of grass.
"You essentially can't prepare yourself for everything. There are going to be slight variations on pin positions, slight changes all the time, and you just have to run with it.
"The one thing you don't want to do on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is get into the psychology of trying to cover everything, which I have in the past.
"That only wears you out if you do happen to get into position on Sunday."
Alongside The Open, Harrington captured the Irish Open crown last season, and was also named European Tour Player of the Year.
Highlight
But, with arguably golf's sternest challenge lying in wait, Harrington readily admits that the Masters represents the highlight of his year - his practice routine even geared with Augusta in mind.
"There's no question that I would dearly love to win here," he added.
"I would say a lot of my practice is done with the idea that I want to improve my golf swing so I can manage to play Augusta.
"If you can get around Augusta, hit the shots out here, there's no golf course you can't play."
