Padraig Harrington.....2015 Honda Classic Champion

Beaulieu

I hope the Spirit of Bob Torrance can get through to Padraig. This is heartbreaking to see - he has earned €192k or therabouts this year and over 3/5ths of that came from 1 event. He needs to stop the bleeding by taking time away from the Tour for a number of months. He is Ireland's greatest ever sportsman and one of the finest people around but this is really beginning to tarnish his reputation in a manner similiar to Ian Baker Finch etc

SaveOurLyric

Still, at least he's back
in Europe.

pelevin

Beaulieu wrote: »

He is Ireland's greatest ever sportsman and one of the finest people around but this is really beginning to tarnish his reputation in a manner similiar to Ian Baker Finch etc

Sean Kelly was Number 1 in the cycling world rankings for 5 uninterrupted years. He for me way is ahead of Harrington as Ireland's greatest sportsman. He'd be considered one of the 10 or so greatest ever cyclists. Noone would place Harrington anywhere near that level though his 3 Majors in 12 months was certainly an incredible year.

BoardsMember

pelevin wrote: »

Sean Kelly was Number 1 in the cycling world rankings for 5 uninterrupted years. He for me way is ahead of Harrington as Ireland's greatest sportsman. He'd be considered one of the 10 or so greatest ever cyclists. Noone would place Harrington anywhere near that level though his 3 Majors in 12 months was certainly an incredible year.

Hmmm. Does cycling have a clean and clear a conscience in that period? I don't think so. And if not then I'm not sure you can compare chamions in the two sports.

SaveOurLyric

BoardsMember wrote: »

Hmmm. Does cycling have a clean and clear a conscience in that period? I don't think so. And if not then I'm not sure you can compare chamions in the two sports.

Hmmm indeed. Harrington is without doubt Ireland greatest international sporting achiever. Kelly was a cheat that was caught and banned in a sport that was a total sham and has been entirely discredited. Kelly doesnt even make the list of great ROI sportsmen.

Harrington doesnt even have a serious competitor from Ireland for big wins in a major world sport.

pelevin

I've done about 100 times more golfing in my life than cycling but I'd consider it a joke to compare the two sports - ambling around with another man carrying your clubs compared to climbing the biggest mountains in Europe, or over many kilometres of cobbled roads for 250 kms of northern France. There's nothing epic about golf & my old man has even designed a fair few courses, my brother a scratch golfer & I've worked on golf courses for several years between caddying & golf course construction. One of the greatest ever cyclists ever versus Harrington's one amazing year is a joke to even compare the two - not that I'd have imagined I'd get a different response on a golfing forum. In Kelly's time the cream was genuinely at the top, and he was the best all-round cyclist. It was not a distorted picture as occurred after EPO came along.

Brian O Driscoll would be considered one of the very top rugby players ever, or at least of his era and over the period of about a decade. Harrington's pretences to being one of the very best in the world really covers one year. Is that one year consistent with his career as a whole, fine though it was? Not in the slightest. The idea he's our best ever sportsman is nonsense.

SaveOurLyric

Agree that you cannot compare the two sports. Cycling is a drug addled fraud and has put itself outside the world of sport. Which does leave Paudge with no competition. The Dricmeister General was a phenomenon. And without doubt Ireland's greatest ever rugby player. But in my own 30 years watching the game, let alone all time, I have seen a dozen who are at least comparable if not better.

pelevin

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

But in my own 30 years watching the game, let alone all time, I have seen a dozen who are at least comparable if not better.

Who are those dozen better players? Over those 30 years I'd say I could name at the very least 30 golfers not just comparable but better than Harrington. Not that they had to equal his Major wins but for instance Olazabal & Langer with 2 Majors each are overall way ahead of Harrington in a real consideration of greatest players. Woosnam with only one Major should be way ahead of him, Montgomerie with none is still I'd say well ahead of him.

Leroy42

Harrington is not even Ireland greatest golfer, so claiming he is the best ever sportsman is silly.

pelevin

Leroy42 wrote: »

Harrington is not even Ireland greatest golfer, so claiming he is the best ever sportsman is silly.

McIlroy is already definitely beyond Harrington as our greatest ever player.

SaveOurLyric

pelevin wrote: »

Who are those dozen better players?.

McCaw, Eales, Capese, Blanco, Jones, Vanderwesthuizen, Roff, Ella, Carter, Dallaglio, Harinordoquy, duRant, Wilkinson, Sella, Farr Jones, Johnson, Fitzpatrick. Off the top of my head.

pelevin wrote: »

Who are those dozen better players?Over those 30 years I'd say I could name at the very least 30 golfers not just comparable but better than Harrington. Not that they had to equal his Major wins but for instance Olazabal & Langer with 2 Majors each are overall way ahead of Harrington in a real consideration of greatest players. Woosnam with only one Major should be way ahead of him, Montgomerie with none is still I'd say well ahead of him.

The problem with all the names you mention is that they are not Irish. So cannot dislodge Harro. That his time at the top only spanned 13 months is low compared with other golfers. But still the best Ireland has to offer.

pelevin

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

McCaw, Eales, Capese, Blanco, Jones, Vanderwesthuizen, Roff, Ella, Carter, Dallaglio, Harinordoquy, duRant, Wilkinson, Sella, Farr Jones, Johnson, Fitzpatrick. Off the top of my head.



The problem with all the names you mention is that they are not Irish. So cannot dislodge Harro. That his time at the top only spanned 13 months is low compared with other golfers. But still the best Ireland has to offer.

If the problem with all the names I've mentioned is they're not Irish, why have you given a list of rugby players, none of whom are Irish? And I would say O Driscoll is hardly definitively bettered by any of those players, and is well ahead of for instance Wilkinson, had a far broader game & skillset than Sella, is definitely a better player through his career than Harinordoquy . . .

O Driscoll's comparative stature through an entire career is way ahead of Harrington's. McIlroy's achievements already have well surpassed his. And remember just as in rugby, being Irish means from the island of Ireland. How anyone could consider Harrington our best ever sportsman when as pointed out, we have now a better golfer than him beats me.

agusta

pelevin wrote: »

Who are those dozen better players? Over those 30 years I'd say I could name at the very least 30 golfers not just comparable but better than Harrington. Not that they had to equal his Major wins but for instance Olazabal & Langer with 2 Majors each are overall way ahead of Harrington in a real consideration of greatest players. Woosnam with only one Major should be way ahead of him, Montgomerie with none is still I'd say well ahead of him.

montgomerie is not even close,he collapsed every single time he had a chance to win a major.Next you will say westwood is better

SnowDrifts

agusta wrote: »

montgomerie is not even close,he collapsed every single time he had a chance to win a major.Next you will say westwood is better

Bit harsh to say not even close.... Monty has 31 European Tour wins. Paddy has 13 plus 3 PGA Tour wins.

slave1

SnowDrifts wrote: »

Bit harsh to say not even close.... Monty has 31 European Tour wins. Paddy has 13 plus 3 PGA Tour wins.

But a lot of Monty's wins were against far inferior fields...Paddy won a higher proportion of their combined wins against vastly stronger fields

ForeRight

Happy Birthday Padraig you legend

Domo1982

slave1 wrote: »

But a lot of Monty's wins were against far inferior fields...Paddy won a higher proportion of their combined wins against vastly stronger fields

This has some truth but the same could also be said about some of Harro's major wins i'm afraid

Domo1982

Have just read through this thread and my conclusion is that Harro should try EPO!!!:)

SaveOurLyric

Domo1982 wrote: »

Have just read through this thread and my conclusion is that Harro should try EPO!!!:)

Or blood doping from blood frozen in 2008.

SaveOurLyric

The bottom line on the Monty v Harro records are : would Monty prefer to have P's 3 majors rather than another 15 run of the mill tourneys that no one remembers any more ? You bet your bottom dollar he would.
Monty could argue he might have been a better golf over a longer period - but he wouldnt suggest for a moment that he would care to have the 3 big ones.

agusta

SnowDrifts wrote: »

Bit harsh to say not even close.... Monty has 31 European Tour wins. Paddy has 13 plus 3 PGA Tour wins.

,how many hong kong opens is equivalent to one major...,monty collapsed when the winning line was in sight in majors,harrington did not

Rikand

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

The bottom line on the Monty v Harro records are : would Monty prefer to have P's 3 majors rather than another 15 run of the mill tourneys that no one remembers any more ? You bet your bottom dollar he would.
Monty could argue he might have been a better golf over a longer period - but he wouldnt suggest for a moment that he would care to have the 3 big ones.

Imagine how he'd be on sky if he had them

BoardsMember

I think it's important to flesh this particular line of discussion out, it seems inevitable that we'll reach a common consensus on it.

abff

Domo1982 wrote: »

This has some truth but the same could also be said about some of Harro's major wins i'm afraid

Yes, I remember it well. All three of the majors that Padraig won were boycotted by most of the world's top golfers.;):rolleyes:

I'm sorry to have to disagree, but the absence of Tiger Woods does not suddenly make it easy to win a major.

GreeBo

It makes it equally easier for everyone, yet Harrington was the win to win them.

Martin567

Domo1982 wrote: »

This has some truth but the same could also be said about some of Harro's major wins i'm afraid

Ridiculous statement. Tiger didn't play in those two majors in 2008 because he couldn't even walk at the time!

In the six years that have followed, Tiger hasn't won a single major. Yet, apparently he would have won those two if he'd been able to play in them!!!

galwaylad14

I don't think anyone would dispute that Monty was the more talented player and was consistently at the top level for longer than Harrington but Harrington unquestionably had the better career and the greater achievements.

Golfers are basically ranked according to their major wins and Harrington's 3 put him in the bracket just below the true greats of the game. I think Monty will ultimately be remembered as one of the greatest never to win a major. He'd swap careers in an instant with Harrington

vienne86

So I see he's playing in the Omega this week. Quite a good looking field actually.

Domo1982

Martin567 wrote: »

Ridiculous statement. Tiger didn't play in those two majors in 2008 because he couldn't even walk at the time!

In the six years that have followed, Tiger hasn't won a single major. Yet, apparently he would have won those two if he'd been able to play in them!!!

I saw somewhere that Tigers win rate around that time was 75%...

The six years that followed have nothing to do with it!!!!????!!. That's seems like a (another) cheap pop at Tiger from you to be honest.

You'd do well to remember that your man Harrington spent that same 6 years embarrassing himself on his slow slide into oblivion

Ed Winchester

Domo1982 wrote: »

I saw somewhere that Tigers win rate around that time was 75%...

The six years that followed have nothing to do with it!!!!????!!. That's seems like a (another) cheap pop at Tiger from you to be honest.

You'd do well to remember that your man Harrington spent that same 6 years embarrassing himself on his slow slide into oblivion

75% win rate? Think about that, its not possible. Out of every 4 tournaments he entered, he won 3? I'd be STAGGERED if that is even close to being true.