Harrington at ease in the heat - "I was surprised how much it was business as usual"

Padraig Harrington is suprised how quickly his competitve juices have started flowing again after six months of hell.

The reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year has been in contention to win the Bridgestone Invitational, the US PGA and The Barclays in his last three starts.

Normally a player who takes a while to find that extra gear, Harrington looked as though he had never been away from the business end of a tournament this season.

Form is fleeting, but class is permanent, it appears. Watch out Tiger Woods in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston this week. 

Speaking to Steve Sands of the Golf Channel, Harrington said:

"Over the years, it has always taken me a while. This time around I felt good straight away. I was surprised how good I felt at Firestone. It didn't feel like I had been away for six months. I went out there on the Sunday and it went exactly how I would have envisaged it... up until I messed up on 16. I didn't even know where my head was on 17 and 18. How I managed to finish with two pars, I'll never know. I was surprised how much it was business as usual, let's say. Normally it does take me a few runs to get myself into that feeling but obviously, through the years, the feeling has stuck with me. 

"Any time you are nervous, they are the most exciting times in your life - good or bad. They are the times you will talk about the most in your life, when you are nervous. So you have got to embrace them. You have got to enjoy it. I have messed up plenty of times when I have been nervous and you have got to live with that. But you have got to understand that if you don't put yourself in that position, you are never going to win. I know at some stage I am going to mess up, as I did at Bridgestone, as I did at the PGA. I  know you are going to look foolish and it is not going to be a good return but those days make the good ones all the sweeter."