He may be the forgotten Irishman at the 2012 Masters but Padraig Harrington is reveling in the lack of pressure at Augusta.

The three time Major winner has never won the Green Jacket and is a rank outsider to do so this week.
All the attention is on Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy with Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell even attracting more media interest than Harrington.

But that suits the 40-year-old Dubliner just fine ahead of Thursday morning’s first round on the most famous golf course in the world.

“I’ve won three Majors. I’ve already over-achieved, so I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t win more,” Harrington told the Irish Sun newspaper.

“I’m in a great position, I don’t have anything to prove. I’d love to win a Green Jacket and I love the golf course.

“But whether I win or don’t win one doesn’t take away from anything I have already done. That’s my attitude.

“I don’t have to go out and win this. I have won three Majors. If you’d offered me three Majors when I turned pro 16 years ago do you think I would have taken it? Everything else is a bonus.”

Currently number 96 in the world rankings, Harrington desperately wants to make the cut for the first time in three years at Augusta this week.

He is taking comfort from the fact that he has been assigned number 66 for the week according to reports from the venue in the Irish papers.

“Look. Car No 66 - given to me on purpose by the way. I’m not superstitious but four of those wouldn’t go amiss this week,” he told the Irish Sun before revealing he practised his putting in the dark upon his arrival at Augusta on Sunday night.
 
Harrington said: “It was very nice. But my putting hasn’t been great now for a while. It’s a combination of everything. I’d say some weeks it’s reading. But if I could figure that out it’d be great. It hasn’t been technical, which is easy to sort out.”