Harrington must win or miss Sawgrass
Pádraig Harrington must win this week's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow to avoid missing The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass for the first time since his debut in 2001.
A subtle change in the qualifiying criteria for next week's $10 million bonanza means that rather than the Top 125 on last year's money list getting a start, only the Top 125 money leaders in order of their 2013 FedExCup finishing position get to tee it up in the PGA Tour's flagship event next week.
Harrington kept his US Tour card by finishing 116th on the PGA Tour money list last year but he only finished 130th in FedEx Cup points, which leaves him out in the cold for Sawgrass unless he can win at Quail Hollow on Sunday.
The 42-year old Dubliner was 19th in the world following his most recent win at the 2010 Iskandar Johor Open. But he's suffered a dramatic slide since to 196th then and with his exemption for winning the most recent of his three majors having run out at the end of last year, he may soon be forced to concentrate on the European Tour.
He failed to qualify for the Masters this year for the first time since he made his debut at Augusta National in 2000 and missing Sawgrass is just another consequence of his fall in the world rankings and lack of wins.
Major champions or Players Championship winners over the past five years, PGA Tour winners over the past year, the top 10 in this year's FedEx Cup list as well as the Top 50 in the world qualify automatically for Sawgrass.
And Harrington will almost certainly have to pre-quaify for the US Open unless he can win before the international qualifier at Walton Heath on May 26.
He did not qualify for either of the World Golf Championships earlier this year and is currently 198th in this year's FedEx Cup Points list.
After missing five of his first nine cuts, he's also 188th in the money list with just $85,246 on the board.
If he fails to win at Quail Hollow, Harrington is scheduled to be in Dublin on Tuesday for the launch of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland's (GCI) 2020 Strategy Vision for the future of golf in Ireland.
A not-for-profit body, the CGI was created last year by the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI), the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU) and the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) to complement the work of the three associations in advancing the sport of golf in Ireland
