“It’s the worst thing anybody could do, pat you on the back and say ‘well done’ for 10, 15, 25th”

Pádraig Harrington has three top-25 finishes in his last four starts on the DP World Tour proving that at 53 years of age he still has the game to compete with the young guns at the top level.

This impressive mini summer run includes finishes of T22 at the Open Championship, T25 at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and T12 at the BMW PGA Championship.

The three-time major winner has managed to string together eight successive under par rounds in his last two DP World Tour events including five rounds in the 60s.

Harrington plays most of his golf on the Champions Tour in America these days and plays a selection of events on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, but he has no desire to get back on the hamster wheel of the main tours on a regular basis, but he isn’t content with his finishes either and has no interest in receiving plaudits for his latest efforts.

Winning is all that matters to Harrington which is why he prioritises the senior circuit and one can see why as he chases his ninth Champions Tour victory tonight at the SAS Championship.

“It’s the worst thing anybody could do, pat you on the back and say “well done” for 10, 15, 25th because you’re just not in the races then,” he said. “You’re not competing. It is okay when you’re on a regular tour if you’re doing that to build momentum and you’re looking for your win.

“Yeah, I’m not there to finish 25th. I’m not disparaging finishing 25th, but I’m not going to write that down on my career CV that I finished at 25th. I need wins to do anything. And it would be a huge deal for me to win on a regular tour, to compete, to get over the line. It would be way up there, getting right up at the top of my CV. That’s why I do it.

“Now at the start of the year I was very frustrated because I wasn’t playing well, but the last, you know — I think I was — last run of events I played actually quite well, I think I was (inaudible) strokes gained tee to green at the BMW Championship. So when you’re doing that, you feel like hey, I can compete with these guys. I know I need a big week and a good week (inaudible). If I play my game, yes, hopefully I get across the line.”