Bill Elliott THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

Our editor-at-large reflects on Padraig Harrington’s appointment as 2020 European Ryder Cup captain and shares some memories from his interactions with the Irishman over the years

To Wentworth for the unveiling of the worst-kept secret in sport, never mind golf... the crowning of Padraig Harrington as Europe’s next Ryder Cup skipper. Wentworth looked good in the winter sunshine, while Harrington also looked rather splendid with a tidy beard and, praise someone’s lord, minus a cap.

You’ll have read that he feels some trepidation at the responsibility he has taken on, acknowledges swiftly that it’s a ‘full-time job’ and clearly doesn’t mind if it affects his progress as a player over the next two seasons. All perfectly reasonable comments from a decent bloke who tends not to miss the opportunity of throwing in a dozen words where one would probably do. He knows that leading a side in the USA is hugely more challenging than doing so in Europe, but feels the time is right for him to have a go.

He is spot on in this last assessment. At 47, he is one of the younger captains in recent times, but it clearly is the correct moment for him to focus as much, if not more, on Ryder Cup preparation than on his own game. And remember, no one has ever concentrated on their own game more than this Irishman. The fact is he has been there, done it and got the replica trophies to prove it. Two Open Championships and one USPGA triumph in a madly wonderful 13-month spell a decade ago mark him out as very special indeed. If anything, he is under-appreciated outside his homeland.

In Ireland, however, he is not only a star but a man who is loved for his decency, his generosity and his levelheadedness. It’s the same in my house. Over the years I’ve interviewed him a lot and always been beguiled by his willingness to answer any question in both a thoughtful and straightforward manner. Whoever he is talking to, he respects them whether they are a vaguely important official, a member of the public or, yes, a journalist.

Two memories from a lot of good times with him. Back in 2004 I fixed up to call him on his mobile when he was home in Dublin. When I called, he answered straight away but it was difficult to hear what he was saying as it sounded as though he was in a wind tunnel. “Where the hell are you?” I asked. “I’m in the hairdresser. It’s the one place I knew I’d be sitting down today so that’s why I asked you to call at this time,” he said. So I asked if he was having a short, back and sides? “No,” he said. “I’m having some blond tints and highlights put in, just for the change of it. Sure, you’re only young once.” That was my intro right there.

A couple of years earlier, it was arranged for me to play with him during the Pro-am at the Portuguese Open – a chance to see him at work close-up while interviewing him. To add a bit of spice, he suggested we have a match. Despite his kind offer of a stroke a hole in my direction, I was five down with five holes to play. Then I began swinging really rather well and bounced three holes on the trot.

At the 17th, a par 5, I was also in good shape, on the green in three and just 15ft from the hole. Padraig, meanwhile, had hit the edge of the green in two, but as he was some 40ft from the hole, I felt I was in command. So, too, did his caddie at the time, the thoughtful and likeable Ulsterman Dave Mcneilly. Dave was slyly giving me the putting line on every green for, as he said quietly, “If a hacker like you can come back from five down, what fun I’m going to have telling everyone, and I do mean everyone.”

It didn’t happen. Padraig holed that long putt to take the hole and the match, and as we shook hands he admitted that I’d at least made him concentrate properly at the end. Then we went for a beer. Actually I had the beer while he had water, explaining that he never touched alcohol before a tournament. Despite winning, he insisted on paying.

As he posed with the Ryder Cup at Wentworth and smiled that he was “trilled” to be appointed, he added that his captaincy would more closely resemble Bernhard Langer’s than any of the other skippers he had played under, explaining that the great German was not “fuzzy and cuddly” and neither is he. I hate to contradict the new captain, but he is wrong. Quite a few of us have found him rather fuzzy and cuddly, as well as focused and intelligent, and there is nothing wrong with that. I wish him great success and I know I’m not alone.

“Two Open Championships and one USPGA in 13 months mark him out as very special. If anything, he is under-appreciated outside his homeland”