Is Padraig Harrington serious?

[ellandleinster]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

[Broken Wing]

I'm Irish and don't recall Padraig asking me my opinion on the matter.

[Logorrhea]

Source

[Mackman15]

He'd be right regardless of whether he believes the nation call for it or not.
The GUI can be as agreived as they want. It's where they are from.

(someone had to say it. )

[ellandleinster]

He'd be right regardless of whether he believes the nation call for it or not.
The GUI can be as agreived as they want. It's where they are from.

(someone had to say it. )

you are wrong I'm afraid. Golf is an all Ireland game. In any event if either of them want to declare for GB then that's up to them and not Me feiner Padraig.

Storey was in yesterday's IT.

[totalrandomer]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

I believe that all Irish people want Stephen Ferris and Rory Best to declare for England so we can get more Leinster/Munster players into the pack.

[Mackman15]

He'd be right regardless of whether he believes the nation call for it or not.
The GUI can be as agreived as they want. It's where they are from.

(someone had to say it. )

you are wrong I'm afraid. Golf is an all Ireland game. In any event if either of them want to declare for GB then that's up to them and not Me feiner Padraig.

Storey was in yesterday's IT.

Hence the reference to the GUI. Golf is as you say an all Ireland sport but the Olympics is an international event based on nationality. I would rather be wrong but I'm not.

PH was asked the question and gave his opinion.
The lads can wear a number of hats when it suits and depending on who's the primary audience.
Time will tell.

[West Brit]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

I believe that all Irish people want Stephen Ferris and Rory Best to declare for England so we can get more Leinster/Munster players into the pack.

But they're not eligible for England.

[Sauvignon Blank]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

Unfortunately, PH has been talking out of his hoop for some years now. He's in denial about his spectacular fall from grace which has seen him plummet the World rankings. His short game has all but disappeared, the foundation of his success, whilst his long game is still good.
I wouldn't take anything he say's nowadays seriously although his utterances on McIlroy&Gmac are possibly borne out from the realisation/fact they'd be shoe ins for the Irish team ahead of himself.
My opinion is Mcilroy would turn out for GB, he's a cocky little git on&off the fairways and doesn't give a toss about the public opinion. I have my doubts about Gmac, I think he'd prefer to represent Ireland. Clarke just goes where the Guinness is best.
Maybe Harrington is putting it out there first, kind of cushioning the blow so to speak. He has in all liklehood spoke to the players concerned and knows what their thoughts on representing GB are?

[totalrandomer]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

I believe that all Irish people want Stephen Ferris and Rory Best to declare for England so we can get more Leinster/Munster players into the pack.

But they're not eligible for England.

Sorry Lads. I have no interest in/clue about golf. Just Wumming.

[jezzer]

Harrington comes off looking like a selfish pr!*k. Just for spite, Shane Lowry should get Paudge's spot if the other two declared for GB.

[fourthirtythree]

Golf? Game for nonces in silly trousers <legger>

[ellandleinster]

Harrington comes off looking like a selfish pr!*k. Just for spite, Shane Lowry should get Paudge's spot if the other two declared for GB.

agreed. It would not be just out of spite btw. His actions deserve formal censure and punishment such as exclusion from the team. What really gets me is that Ireland has so few medal chances whilst GB has loads (not least in golf) as it stands already. Harrington is so out of touch its untrue.

Mcilroy and Gmac are products of the GUI system and benefited from the hard work and dedication of a lot of people north and south of the border over the years and I would hope they remember this when the time comes.

[ellandleinster]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

I believe that all Irish people want Stephen Ferris and Rory Best to declare for England so we can get more Leinster/Munster players into the pack.

I appreciate this is a WUM, but the analogy is useful.

Imagine if Ireland had an Olympic sevens team and a fading rugby legend ( don't want to mention names) publicly stated that Ferris/Best should declare for GB to free up a berth on the Irish team for them.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Well this thread is a real irony free zone!

[Vamos los azules]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

The Olympic team isn't Great Britain, it is Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They would be playing for Northern Ireland, all be it in a combined team, if they were to opt for GB&NI rather than Ireland. Which given that NI is where they are from isn't that outlandish a suggestion.

But it would certainly be in Harrington's interest to have the Northern Irish golfers opt to represent NI in the GB&NI team, freeing up the places in the Ireland team.

[cormac]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

Unfortunately, PH has been talking out of his hoop for some years now. He's in denial about his spectacular fall from grace which has seen him plummet the World rankings. His short game has all but disappeared, the foundation of his success, whilst his long game is still good.
I wouldn't take anything he say's nowadays seriously although his utterances on McIlroy&Gmac are possibly borne out from the realisation/fact they'd be shoe ins for the Irish team ahead of himself.
My opinion is Mcilroy would turn out for GB, he's a cocky little git on&off the fairways and doesn't give a toss about the public opinion. I have my doubts about Gmac, I think he'd prefer to represent Ireland. Clarke just goes where the Guinness is best.
Maybe Harrington is putting it out there first, kind of cushioning the blow so to speak. He has in all liklehood spoke to the players concerned and knows what their thoughts on representing GB are?

Harrington's problem is his driving. His fairways hit stat is appalling over the last couple of years and that's placing huge pressure on the rest of the game. Everything flows from the fact he's not hitting the fairway, it puts more pressure on his approach shots as he'll have less control of the ball, meaning, on average, he's further away from the pin than he was in his prime. IMO he's trying to hit it too far, sacrificing accuracy for club-head speed. It's also interesting to look at his scoring average on par 5's over the last couple of years. He constantly makes a mess of them, often because he's out of position off the tee.

The way he's going, even if the NI players declared for Team GB, he won't be in any position to benefit from it.

[Sauvignon Blank]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

Unfortunately, PH has been talking out of his hoop for some years now. He's in denial about his spectacular fall from grace which has seen him plummet the World rankings. His short game has all but disappeared, the foundation of his success, whilst his long game is still good.
I wouldn't take anything he say's nowadays seriously although his utterances on McIlroy&Gmac are possibly borne out from the realisation/fact they'd be shoe ins for the Irish team ahead of himself.
My opinion is Mcilroy would turn out for GB, he's a cocky little git on&off the fairways and doesn't give a toss about the public opinion. I have my doubts about Gmac, I think he'd prefer to represent Ireland. Clarke just goes where the Guinness is best.
Maybe Harrington is putting it out there first, kind of cushioning the blow so to speak. He has in all liklehood spoke to the players concerned and knows what their thoughts on representing GB are?

Harrington's problem is his driving. His fairways hit stat is appalling over the last couple of years and that's placing huge pressure on the rest of the game. Everything flows from the fact he's not hitting the fairway, it puts more pressure on his approach shots as he'll have less control of the ball, meaning, on average, he's further away from the pin than he was in his prime. IMO he's trying to hit it too far, sacrificing accuracy for club-head speed. It's also interesting to look at his scoring average on par 5's over the last couple of years. He constantly makes a mess of them, often because he's out of position off the tee.

The way he's going, even if the NI players declared for Team GB, he won't be in any position to benefit from it.

Au contraire, Harrington's driving is no better or worse than it was 5 years ago. He was never an accurate driver and missed a lot of fairways even throughout his glory years. What he did posess then was an imperious short game which was as good if not better than Woods. He scrambling stats were phenomenal then. He simply held a ridiculous amount of clutch putts.
At present, he is holding very little and his wedge play has deteriorated slightly. Once the short stick goes cold you can forget about contending. Agreed he does try to hit the ball too hard, as i've stated previously and this causes a high ugly hook.

[simplythebest]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

Unfortunately, PH has been talking out of his hoop for some years now. He's in denial about his spectacular fall from grace which has seen him plummet the World rankings. His short game has all but disappeared, the foundation of his success, whilst his long game is still good.
I wouldn't take anything he say's nowadays seriously although his utterances on McIlroy&Gmac are possibly borne out from the realisation/fact they'd be shoe ins for the Irish team ahead of himself.
My opinion is Mcilroy would turn out for GB, he's a cocky little git on&off the fairways and doesn't give a toss about the public opinion. I have my doubts about Gmac, I think he'd prefer to represent Ireland. Clarke just goes where the Guinness is best.
Maybe Harrington is putting it out there first, kind of cushioning the blow so to speak. He has in all liklehood spoke to the players concerned and knows what their thoughts on representing GB are?

How can they declare for GB? They are from Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom. Great Britain (GB) is also part of the United Kingdom. But Norn Iron and GB are two separate enties and while they could declare for a UK Team, they cannot declare for a GB Team (surely?), (Just as someone from Engerland, Scotland or Wales, i.e. GB, could not declare for NI). No?

[West Brit]

Padraig says all Irish people want Rory Mcilroy and Graham Mcdowell to declare for GB for the Olympics so that he and Darren Clarke can then play for Ireland. I would be gutted if Rory and Graham played for GB and so I would think would most Irish golf fans. I just cannot believe Harrington's attitude and its difficult to believe he is serious though he obviously is.

Unfortunately, PH has been talking out of his hoop for some years now. He's in denial about his spectacular fall from grace which has seen him plummet the World rankings. His short game has all but disappeared, the foundation of his success, whilst his long game is still good.
I wouldn't take anything he say's nowadays seriously although his utterances on McIlroy&Gmac are possibly borne out from the realisation/fact they'd be shoe ins for the Irish team ahead of himself.
My opinion is Mcilroy would turn out for GB, he's a cocky little git on&off the fairways and doesn't give a toss about the public opinion. I have my doubts about Gmac, I think he'd prefer to represent Ireland. Clarke just goes where the Guinness is best.
Maybe Harrington is putting it out there first, kind of cushioning the blow so to speak. He has in all liklehood spoke to the players concerned and knows what their thoughts on representing GB are?

How can they declare for GB? They are from Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom. Great Britain (GB) is also part of the United Kingdom. But Norn Iron and GB are two separate enties and while they could declare for a UK Team, they cannot declare for a GB Team (surely?), (Just as someone from Engerland, Scotland or Wales, i.e. GB, could not declare for NI). No?

You're absolutely correct of course, and the UK competes as the UK in the Olympics. It's just that the media in the UK are just as bad as the media in Ireland for not knowing the difference between GB and the UK of GB & NI.

I guess to be fair to the British media, Team GB is a catchier moniker than Team UK of GB & NI.