Harrington's heroics can give Europeans a major lift

IT TOOK eight years to end the European drought at majors but Padraig Harrington hopes his success at the Open last month will open the floodgates for his Ryder Cup team-mates to challenge for golf's most sought-after prizes.

The Irishman tees up at the US PGA at Southern Hills today buoyed by his win at Carnoustie, where he emulated Paul Lawrie's triumph at the same venue in 1999. Aberdonian Lawrie, of course, was the last European before Harrington to win a major. No European has won the US PGA Championship since Scotland's Tommy Armour in 1930 - but Harrington insists that run could come to an end as well.

He said: "I believe we're in a better place now than we were going into the Open, having a chance to win a major championship. I think we have a number of players who have added belief. If the floodgates open in the next couple of years, I'm going to take credit for it."

Despite Harrington's Open victory, Tiger Woods is favourite to claim his first major success since this event at Medinah last season, with the first three majors of this year going to people without previous success at such a level.

To land No 13, Woods will have to overcome the heat, a deep field and have all facets of his game working - something he has not had in the Masters, US Open or Open.

A tie for second at The Masters was followed by a runner-up finish at the US Open. Woods grabbed a share of the lead on Sunday at each of the first two majors, but was unable to pull away due to inconsistent play, something it appears he has rectified after an eight-shot victory at last week's Bridgestone Invitational.

He explained: "My game does feel pretty good. I made some strides last week and I'm heading in the right direction and really looking forward to this week."

Woods always looks forward to the majors - it is how he measures his season - and, despite four victories in 12 events, he needs to lift the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday to consider the year a success. He added: "It has been an interesting year. If I've hit it well, I've not putted well. If I've hit it poorly, I've made everything. I just can't get the two together somehow. It just hasn't materialised consistently enough."

While Woods has struggled to put it all together in the majors, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Harrington have taken advantage to secure their first major titles this season.

If neither Woods, nor any European manages to beat the heat - temperatures should be hovering around 100 degrees all week - there is a good chance another first-timer will get it right. A total of 44 players have made the US PGA Championship their first major title, including Raymond Floyd, Payne Stewart, John Daly, Nick Price, Vijay Singh and Shaun Micheel, who was the last to do it in 2003 at Oak Hill Country Club.

Johnson, whose best PGA finish is 17th in 2005, has not been surprised by the recent spate of breakthrough winners.

He said: "In this game, there is so much parity and talent involved, it's not that surprising.

"When it comes down to it, anybody who has a good week can win - it's just a matter of executing when need be and finishing in the end."

While Harrington goes into this week's tournament flushed with success, Sergio Garcia will tee up in Tulsa seeking to banish the bad memories of Carnoustie. The Spaniard held a three-shot lead heading into the final day last month and missed a ten-foot par putt at the 72nd hole which would have given him victory, before losing the play-off to Harrington.

As a result, Garcia still retains the tag of being the best player never to win a major - a label which Phil Mickelson had for so long before his breakthrough at the 2004 Masters. Mickelson, the world No 3, has backed Garcia to overcome his Open heartbreak and break his duck in the majors.

"I believed, just as Sergio believes, it's just a matter of time," he said. I always believed and never really wondered if I would ever win one. I knew I would I just didn't know when. It took more time than I had hoped, but he's too good a player for it not to happen."

If Mickelson's experience is anything to go by, Harrington should find himself more competitive in the big events now he is major winner himself.

"I remember a lot of things that came along with winning the 2004 Masters," he added. "It's hard to lower expectations when you've won a major because you know how great it feels. You sure want to get it again. You want to have more wins. I don't know if that's the hardest thing. I think that's a good motivating factor for a lot of guys when they get a taste how great it feels to finally win. It spurs them on to more wins."

One player in need of a spark to reignite his career is world No 4 Ernie Els who, apart from a joint-fourth finish at the Open, has been struggling with his game. "I'm working on it obviously but somewhere there's been a bit of a dip in confidence and it's been tough to get it back to the level I want to get it back to," said the South African.

"At times, I've played some wonderful rounds, but I haven't closed the deal, so to speak, in a lot of tournaments. The Open was a very close call for me. On paper, I was two shots away but I was right there in the mix of things and didn't quite close it."