Hey Tiger Woods: Padraig Harrington has your mojo

Padraig Harrington isn’t just the best golfer in the world right now; he’s also the coolest golfer in the world in the world right now.

No, he’s not holing Rubiks Cubes from 15 feet away. That would be Tiger Woods, who, although injured, is smart enough to heed the old adage of “Out of sight, out of mind.” He also knows that he’ll never make as much money playing golf as he will make from his endorsements, so keeps up on the ad front. Hence the latest from EA Sports.



Pretty fun, I’ll grant you that, and in a world where where “Is it real?” viral videos are cropping up more often than interceptions in Jets games, it ranks right up there. Not for technical wizardry, but as proof that Tiger can do still some pretty wonderful things, injured or not. The story has it that it took him only two takes. Probably explains why he was so psyched when it went in, since I’m guessing they told him he’d be done once he sank one.

So Tiger is still around, and the world hasn’t collapsed. It’s just become a much better place for the quiet, confident, Mr. Harrington, a native of Ireland and a man who prefers ridiculously hard work over the luck of the Irish.

I was once at a tournament to interview him for a video. We had to wait until after his round to shoot him, but he had putted poorly that day so he stopped at the putting green after he finished and practiced his putting…and practiced...and practiced…while it got darker and colder. He was still on the green while his competitors were on their third beer.

He still gave us all the time we needed, and while his performance was just North of lackluster, he was very honest and real.

Those qualities help explain the latest news on Padraig: He just re-signed with Wilson to endorse their golf clubs. It pays him a lot of money, but it was millions short of what we could have made had he switched to any of the new companies that were courting him. But he’s been with Wilson for many years, they’ve worked side by side with him in developing his equipment, and he felt loyalty to the company that’s had a hand in his success.

They both work ridiculously hard, they both have had tremendous success recently, and while Tiger can marry Swedish knockouts and play golf on the moon, Padraig carries his own kind of authentic cool. Sometimes that’s the best kind.