Lawrence Donegan of the Guardian has this interview with Paddy. From the interview:
“We have zero in common, bar the fact that we both play golf. He is the antithesis of me, and I am the antithesis of him,” said Harrington, who was yesterday named the European Tour’s player of the year in recognition of his two major victories in 2008, at the Open Championship at Birkdale and the PGA Championship in Detroit. The Irishman edged out GarcÃa on the final green of the PGA and had also defeated the Spaniard in a play-off to win last year’s Open at Carnoustie — an occasion remembered as much for the frostiness of their interaction as it was for the excellence of their golf.
At the time many observers believed their evident lack of personal warmth was a by-product of what was a fiercely contested tournament but Harrington conceded their antipathy was more deep-rooted.
“We play the game in exactly the opposite way. He is destined to find the long game easy and the short game hard, and I am the opposite,” he said. “We’re also competitors who for the last few years have been vying over who is the No1 golfer in Europe. I think in the hearts and minds of a lot of people GarcÃa would have been No1, while I have been ranked No1. As you can imagine, no quarter is given. It is not as if we have ever had a row or a run-in. I have had plenty of run-ins with people and we would be friends but [with Garcia] it is just, well, we are just so much the opposite of each other.”
***Insert Uma Thurman voiceover from Pulp Fiction*** “Ooooo this doesn’t sound like the usual mindless, boring, getting to know you chit-chat. This sounds like you actually have soemthing to say…”
He ends with this bombshell:
“The pair played practice rounds together at Valhalla and, after being teased by other team members about a photograph on the team room wall showing Harrington holing a crucial putt at the PGA Championship, GarcÃa conceded he had wanted to smash the club over the Irishman’s head.”
Cut! Print it! Wow!
