Harrington on charitable giving: "It helps me live with myself"

Padraig Harrington is a global ambassador for Special Olympics. Picture via PadraigHarrington.com

Pádraig Harrington is playing on a sponsor's invitation in Indonesia this week where he is joined by Muskerry's Niall Turner for his final event of a forgettable 2014.

Unless he can win the BANK BRI Indonesia Open at Damai Indah Golf's PIK Course in Jakarta, this will go down as the worst year of the Dubliner's 19-year professional career.

But having won well in excess of  €30m around the world since he turned pro in 1996, Harrington admitted at the Gary Player's Invitational Pro-Am in Sun City last week that regularly giving something back to charity eases the guilt and allows him to look at himself in the mirror in the morning.

"Basically, it helps me Iive with myself," he told Michael Vlismas in the latest edition of Global Golf Post. "And I know from past experience that, at the end of it, we're always the winners. When I am on the ground working with people, I'm the one that gets the most out of it. You walk away feeling great."

Harrington eventually went into Movember mode again this year, raising more cash for charity with another laudable lack of effort with the razor, as he showed with his Twitter picture.

Missing movember already. pic.twitter.com/77LKJyd5UY

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) November 30, 2014

As for his golf, this week's US$750,000 event in Indonesia could prove hugely important. If he can win for the first time since he claimed the Iskandar Johor Open on the Asian Tour just over four years ago, he'll head into his winter break with a spring in his step.

It's also a big week for 31-year old Turner, who does not have to tee it up in the final event of the Asian Development Tour in Malaysia this week having secured his Asian Tour card for 2015.

The Cork native is third in the money list having won more than $46,000 this season and he's certain now to finish in the Top-5 on the second tier tour who earn full Asian Tour cards for next season.

Turner headed back to Asia to play in the final ADT event of the year but with one of his main rivals on the money list heading for Indonesia instead, his card was secured and he could happily take up a sponsor's invitation to join Harrington in the BANK BRI Indonesia Open.

The invitation came from Linc Group as Turner won won the Linc Group Jakarta Classic on the ADT in July to take a giant step towards regaining full playing rights on the Asian Tour.