Harrington clouds Olazabal's Ryder Cup thoughts
(Reuters) - Padraig Harrington gave European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal plenty to think about as he charged into a one-shot lead in Thursday's opening round of the Barclays tournament in Farmingdale, New York.
Spaniard Olazabal will on Monday announce his two wildcard picks to complete his 12-man team to take on the United States, with Britain's Ian Poulter and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts widely viewed as the likely candidates.
Two weeks ago, on the eve of the PGA Championship at Kiawah island, Olazabal said Harrington needed to do "really extraordinary well" to have any chance of being one of the two captain's selections, and the Irishman has certainly responded.
The 40-year-old Dubliner tied for 18th in the year's final major and on Thursday he upstaged the game's leading players by shooting a superb seven-under-par 64 on the challenging Bethpage Black layout.
However Harrington is well aware that by skipping the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Championship being played this week in Scotland, his form in the first of the U.S. PGA Tour's four FedExCup playoff events may count for nothing.
"There's no possible way I can make it in on the (European Ryder Cup) rankings," the Irishman told reporters. "If I won this week there would be enough points that I would have automatically got in, but it doesn't count for points.
"As regards my golf, I'm happy I'm playing well. I've played well all year solid, and I'm happy that I seem to have something going and my putting going that's bringing me back to where I've been. I'm happy. What more can I ask for?"
Harrington, who languishes 19th in the European world points list, readily concedes he is paying the price after failing to qualify for this year's World Golf Championships events, which are just one rung down from the majors.
"Not playing in the bigger events outside of those four majors hurt my cause," he said. "But that's the way it is. At the end of the day, we'll see how we get on this week.
"I'm going to keep playing well and see what happens. I'd dearly love to play in the Ryder Cup. I've played four out of six Ryder Cups. See, I'm starting to plead now."
Olazabal, who will announce his captain's picks after the Johnnie Walker Championship finishes at Gleneagles, said at Kiawah Island that Harrington had to impress.
The Spaniard added: "He's well down the list. I've played with him a couple of times during this year. From tee to green, his game has been fairly good, but I think his putting has let him down this year so far."
Questions have been raised over Harrington and Olazabal's relationship since a spat between the two at the 2003 Seve Trophy, but the Irishman is confident the Spaniard will base his captain's Cup picks on what is best for Europe.
"I truly believe that he's interested in winning the Ryder Cup," Harrington said. "From the character that he is, I believe he would put winning way above anything that's personal.
"The Ryder Cup means so much to Europe, particularly to Jose as a European player. Nobody, bar Seve (Ballesteros), would understand in his mind what it means to Europe."
Nine of Olazabal's 10 automatic selections for the European team are already known and the final place will be decided after the last round at Gleneagles on Sunday.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)
