Harrington Spends St. Patrick's Day at White House, Gives Obama Set of Clubs

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Irishman Padraig Harrington walked to the first tee Thursday afternoon at Innisbrook Resort to begin first-round play at Transitions Championship or to conduct a White House press briefing, one of the two.

"Did you tweak the heath care thing at all?" asked playing partner Stewart Cink. "You know, it could use some tweaking."

Harrington, with a shake of his head, answered, "No, didn't get into that."

But if you happen to be looking for hidden messages, a moment later Harrington did hit his opening drive to the very far right.

We must, however, assume the tee ball Harrington planted somewhere on the far side of Rush Limbaugh was more the result of being a bit groggy from a hectic previous 24 hours rather than a political statement.

The previous day Harrington had made a quick round-trip to Washington D.C., to be a part of the Irish delegation invited by President Barack Obama to the White House's St. Patrick's Day celebration.

The three-time major championship winner flew out of nearby Tampa early Wednesday afternoon on a private jet, landed in D.C. in time to arrive at the White House for the 6 to 9 p.m. function and was back at Innisbrook Resort to get some sleep before Thursday's afternoon tee time.

"I was very punctual," Harrington said. "Unusual for me. I was there exactly from 6 to 9. Normally I'd be late on both ends -- late arriving and late leaving."

The guest list featured Ireland Prime Minister Brian Cowan. Also included, along with a host of politicians and business executives, were actor Gabriel Byrne and Irish women's boxing champ Katie Taylor.

"A big deal to be invited," Harrington said. "It's an exclusive list. That's why I went."

In the spirit of the day, President Obama was presented with a ceremonial gift of shamrock, flown in from Ireland, and in a Irish crystal vase.

That sounds nice, if you happen to like that sort of thing. Harrington, on the other hand, showed up lugging a complete set of left-handed clubs, supplied by his sponsor, Wilson, in a spiffy new staff bag sporting the presidential seal.

Considering Obama has turned into an addicted golfer -- "He plays more often than George Bush did!" political web sites scream -- it was a gesture that should have had all eyes smiling on the Irishman, but alas, there would be no news footage of Harrington and the president practice-putting across the White House carpeting.

Michaele and Tareq Salahi may have walked in off the street and left a White House party with a lifetime of Facebook photo posts with the president, but Ireland's most recognized sporting figure never made it to the front of the receiving line.

Obama addressed the gathering of some 150, then shook some hands, but Harrington wasn't in the right place at the right time.

"He spoke for a good while, and when it finished off, there were people going up to say hello," Harrington said. "I was standing back and kind of missed the opportunity. It won't happen again.

"I knew with the golf clubs, they had to be security checked. So I knew they were going to have to be left there. But at the end of the day, it was just nice to be there. It would have been nice to have met the President; he's a very impressive person. When he's speaking, it's unbelievable. But I was close enough, let's say."

Certainly, Harrington did not consider the venture a disappointment. And the fact he came back to Innisbrook to shoot a first-round 69 suggests the travel left him no worse for wear. He eagled the 565-yard par-5 11th hole after a 266-yard second shot to 38 feet and holed a bunker shot on 18 for birdie. He trails first-round leader Garrett Willis' 65 by four shots.

"If he ever comes to Ireland, I'd love to take him golfing," Harrington said of the president. "I was really impressed by how relaxed [the gathering] was. It was very, very welcoming. I just wandered around and had a look at things. I'd never been before, so it was fantastic. The celebration of Irish culture was very nice.

"As an Irishman, it made me very proud to see how much Irish people have contributed to U.S. history. There have been a lot of influential Irishmen; the man who designed the White House was Irish."

Just imagine if Harrington had been able to fix health care.