Padraig Harrington is staring at the ‘Devil’s Number’ in a hope of contesting next fortnight’s WGC – Cadillac Championship in Florida.

While Rory McIlory has moved back to No. 2 in the world, the triple Major winning Harrington has slipped to 87th in the world after ending near the tail of the field in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera.

If Harrington were an Australian born cricketerer than 87 is considered extremely unluckly as it’s 13 away from 100 and that magical three figure score in cricket.

Hopefully, the number 87 will bring Harrington all the luck of the Irish in breaking through to win at next week’s Honda Classic that would put the Dubliner back inside the top-50 in the world and a place in the following week’s $US 8.5m WGC event.

And as added boost, Harrington will return to the course after having captured the 2005 Honda Classic that was his breakthough success in the States.

Eighty-seven (with thanks to Wikipedia) is also:

• The year AD 87, 87 BC, or 1987
• The atomic number of francium
• The number of years between the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Battle of Gettysburg, immortalized in Abraham Lincoln‘s Gettysburg Address with the phrase “fourscore and seven years ago…”
• The model number of Junkers Ju 87
• The number of the French department Haute-Vienne
• The designation of Interstate 87, a freeway in New York; the European route E87 from Tulcea to Antalya
• The code for international direct dial phone calls to Inmarsat and other services
• The 87 photographic filter blocks visible light allowing only infrared light to pass
• The ISBN Group Identifier for books published in Denmark.
• the opus number of the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich.
• In model railroading, the ratio of the popular H0 scale is 1:87. Proto:87 scale claims to offer precise proportions of wheels and tracks of real railroads.
• David Bowie CD (1987) “Never Let Me Down” includes the song, “’87 and Cry“
• The 87th United States Congress met from January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963 during John F. Kennedy’s time in office
• Ed McBain‘s “87th Precinct: Lightning” film starred Randy Quaid (1995)
• 87 Punch includes 1 bottle of Bacardi Rum (8 years aged) and 7-up (2 liter bottle)
• Wenger Swiss Army Knife version XXL, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most multi-functional penknife with 87 tools
• Sonnet 87 by William Shakespeare
• The U 87 is a popular microphone used for recording