Unbeknown to Padraig Harrington there was a hardback book on the shelf in the Chart Room of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club entitled ‘Challenge’.
Harrington had joined fellow Major winners, Rory McIlroy and Y. E. Yang along with defending champion, Ian Poulter plus fellow Englishman Justin Rose and 17-year old Hong Kong rookie Jason Hak in the club for a promotion ahead of this week’s UBS Hong Kong Open.
The golf stars then ventured outside and past a number of yachts in dry dock before boarding a Chinese junk for an hour’s cruise in bright sunshine on busy Hong Kong harbour.
However while the book dealt with the perils faced by those single-handed sailors crossing the perilous Atlantic Ocean, Harrington faces a unique challenge this week and that is to continue an unbroken pro career run of having contested every European Tour season-ending event.
He will tee-up in the Special Administrative Region lying 67th on the Race to Dubai money list and Euro 53,410 of fellow Dubliner Peter Lawrie in 60th place.
Lawrie will carry a virtual bulls eye on his back as it’s his 60th place that will be the cut-off for those qualifying for next week’s season-ending Dubai World Championship.
And ever since Harrington joined the Tour full-time in 1996, he’s never once missed qualifying for either the Volvo Masters or more recently the Race to Dubai curtain closer in the UAE.
“It was a great cruise on the harbour but then I wouldn’t want to be out on the boat in the high seas because it wouldn’t be that much fun,” said Harrington.
“As for the golf I am going into this week never been in this situation before and while I don’t want my season to end this week maybe it would be good as I get a slightly longer break that wouldn’t be a bad thing for next year.
“But that’s not why I have added the Hong Kong Open to my schedule for that very reason so that my season doesn’t end this week.
“So the challenge for me this week is to finish top-seven that would earn me about Euro 60,000.
“I’ve earned Euro 448,000 this season and I feel I would need to get to Euro 504,000 or Euro 505,000.”
Harrington returns to competition after finishing third in his defence of the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia after taking a bogey at the last when a birdie would have put him inside the top-60 on the Race to Dubai.
“I was in a great place in Johor but it was disappointing to chip and putt two of the last three holes and not come away with a birdie.
“In fact, I didn’t chip and putt well the last six holes and that’s the strong point of my game, so that’s what I have been working on this past week.
“But overall I am happy with how the game is.
“I’m playing good enough and hopefully I might have turned the corner in Johor and I am kind of looking forward to seeing whether that is the case.”
