Harrington to spank the Yanks

Padraig Harrington wants to spank the Yanks in their own backyard. 

But he doesn't believe his PGA Tour pals will whip up the partisan Kentucky crowd into a frenzy or resort to the tactics that turned Kiawah '93 into The War on the Shore or Brookline '99 into 'The Bear Pit.'

While rookie Graeme McDowell has accused Phil Mickelson of trying to put the frighteners on him, Harrington has no doubt that the left-hander was simply trying to  help a fellow player by warning him that the crowd will be going wild.

After playing together in the final round of the US PGA, Mickelson told McDowell: "They're going to be noisy. And do you know what? We're going to be egging them on."

But Harrington does not believe that the American players will stir up trouble and reckons they want to do their talking with their golf clubs.

Harrington said: "Phil was trying to help Graeme, though I realise that Graeme didn't interpret it that way. 

"I know Phil very well. There’s not an ounce of malice in him. I spoke to him during the FedEx Cup play-offs and he was very cut up about the fact that what he said came out like that actually.
 
"I genuinely believe he was being polite in saying: 'Look it’s going to be noisy. Be prepared to accept the fact it’s going to be noisy like Brookline.' 

"As I say, Brookline was the best tournament I was ever involved in, for atmosphere, ever, in this game."

Kentucky is not a golfing heartland but a hotbed of beer-fuelled NASCAR fans who will be screaming for a home victory.

And that's just fine by Harrington, who got a massive buzz out of beating Mark O'Meara in the singles at Brookline in 1999 before the Americans stormed back to win.

This time he wants to soak up the atmosphere and beat the Americans when they are playing the best.

Assessing the stormy atmosphere, he said: "You can only embrace it. I’m not saying ‘hey, bring it on’ or trying to encourage it in any way. I’m saying the players are just going to have to accept and be ready for it. 

"There’s no point in getting into a situation where we are going around and getting upset if someone says something that we’d all find quite funny if we were on the other side of the ropes. 

"There’s no point in getting offended just because you are inside the ropes, especially if it’s something that you might hear and say ‘that was quite witty, wasn’t it’ if you were outside the ropes. Which is what you’d do if you weren’t involved."

Some have suggested that the Ryder Cup has become far too serious and that the American public will lose interest in it if Europe wins for the sixth time in seven attempts.

But Harrington reckons the biennial classic is in a better place than ever.

He said: "I think it’s in a good place. I think the players are very respectful of each other. I think there is a little bit of rivalry between the team captains this time round. 

"There’s no question both captains want to win dearly but I think there is a more rounded relationship between the players. Because I would know all the US players, I know 100 per cent that Phil’s conversation has been misinterpreted. 

"It’s not a question of Graeme being wrong with what he said and I’m not for one second suggesting th at he is wrong. I am just saying that he read too much into it.

" It isn’t like the Ryder Cup 10 or 15 years ago, the War on the Shore. Certainly for the players like myself who are playing a lot in the States, yes they want to win but there’s not an ounce of malice in any of them.

"Even Boo Weekley who said I was a target – I know there’s not an ouce of malice in Boo, Phil, Kenny Perry. These guys – there’s no one on that team you’d pick out and say they’d be up for it. I hope, I believe and I want them to play as tough as they can. I dearly want Europe to beat the US at their best."

As for the negative effect of another American defeat, Harrington can't see it killing the Ryder Cup as a spectacle.

He said: "I’ve heard this but I don’t believe it. I think it will only motivate them more. I don’t see that as an issue. For TV a good close match, yes, but I can’t see that happening. 

"There’ll be another two years of wailing and gnashing of teeth trying to find out what went wrong."