Harrington lost money - how much not known

Padraig Harrington confirmed in Los Angeles that a report in the Sunday Business Post suggesting he had lost a money in a business investment was broadly accurate.

The paper said that Harrington and businessman Dermot Demond had lost a combined £16 (€17.6) million in the collapse of a high-tech company, U4EA Technologies.

Preparing for the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club, Harrington told the Guardian's Lawrence Donegan: "The substance of the story is true. I am minority shareholder in a company that went into administration."

However, he wouldn't say how much of the €17.6m black hole he had personally absorbed or what other investors had lost.

He did, however, add was involved with another high-technology company, Gos Networks, which had been formed from the remnants of the old company.

"The company has a patented technology that facilities the transfer of data when there are capacity issues in areas such a unified communication, cloud computing and mobile networks - all areas that are struggling, or have issues, with providing quality with the huge data demands on them. I have high hopes of a happy ending."