Illinois, June 11: Padraig Harrington has finshed fifth four times in majors but he does not buy into the theory that a player must first come close before breaking through to win one.
"We're all taught how to win nowadays rather than necessarily having to learn it," said the 31-year-old Irishman, who has ascended to world number seven, the highest-ranked European. "You see that with young guys coming out on Tour, everybody has won a certain amount and if they get a chance, they'll try and take it."

Harrington, a native of Dublin arrives in Chicago as the leading contender to give Europe its first success in the event since Tony Jacklin in 1970.
The reason for that drought, he believes, is in the style of play required to win. Whereas playing on the European Tour requires a player to be a bit more creative in his shotmaking, the U.S. Open dictates that a player to be straightforward and disciplined.
"You want to be sort of like a machine," he said. "Just hit it down the fairway, hit it on the green. You want to be the most boring golfer around this week. "European courses tend to have a little bit more wind, ask for a little more imagination, a little bit more flair in your game.



"A U.S. Open is the one that really tests your ability to hit it straight, hit it on the green and two putt. You have to set out with a game plan and stick with it religiously."



The par-70 Olympia Fields North Course measures 7,190 yards and few players in the field have ever played on it competitively. Harrington arrived late Monday night following a joint 13th finish at the Capital Open and had not played the course when he met the media less than 48 hours before his first-round tee time.



Harrington's emergence onto the international golfing scene came in 1999, when he made the European Ryder Cup team by finishing second in the final two qualifying events and defeated Mark O'Meara in his singles match.



Last year he notched two of his four joint fifth-place major finishes at the Masters and British Open and also finished joint eighth at the U.S. Open.



"I don't necessarily believe I've just come from nowhere in the last two years," he said. "It's been gradual."



Harrington would not turn away an opportunity to win his first major this week, but is more focused on the long-term progress of his career, which he hopes will develop into that of a multiple major winner.



"There's two ways about it, I can become a better player over time, which hopefully I will, or else I can have a very good week," he said. "In the long term, I'm hoping to improve as a player so that I can have little more confidence in how and what I do."


Bureau Report