Padraig is football’s loss

IF Padraig Harrington had been born a day later, he might never have become a professional golfer. Sounds bizarre but that’s the way the three-time major winner sees it.

At the reopening of the Spawell Driving Range on Wednesday night, Harrington spoke of his passion for Gaelic football and hurling as a teenager. Back then, the age category for players was based on how old you were on September 1.

As Harrington (right) was born on August 31, he found himself as the youngest player in his group. ‘What happens when you’re the youngest? You’re put in goal. And I didn’t like being in goal, so I thought about doing other things, like golf,’ he said.

‘If I’d been one day younger, I’d have been a Gaelic footballer.’

Gaelic’s loss was certainly golf’s gain.