Harrington heads to France in search of form for Ryder Cup
Published:Padraig Harrington heads to the Golf de Joyenval club in Chambourcy, France, under intense media scrutiny after gaining a wildcard pick for the Ryder Cup.
Harrington and Peter Hanson are the only two that are involved in next week’s Ryder Cup, competing in the Vivendi Cup.
A strong performance from both would enhance Europe’s credentials for next week’s tournament – Europe are 8/13 in the Ryder Cup betting.
A triple major winner wouldn’t usually cause so much debate if they were selected for the Ryder Cup, but Harrington’s form since winning the PGA Championship in 2008 has been mediocre.
After his Open Championship and PGA Championship major wins, Harrington scooped all the accolades on offer in 2008, but since the Irishman has won just the one tournament, the Irish PGA Championship in 2009.
With other European’s playing so well before Colin Montgomerie made his pick, Harrington will be keen to repay the faith shown by his team captain with a strong performance in France – he is 10/1 joint favourite in the European Tour event.
Peter Hanson, also 10/1 to win the Vivendi Cup, has been extremely strong this season, winning twice and missing just the one cut en route to being selected for the Ryder Cup, and packs a strong case for winning this week.
This will be the first occurrence of the Vivendi Cup, but French tournaments have proved popular with Ryder Cup players in the past two years with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Martin Kaymer winning the 2010 and 2009 Open de France.
Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari also finished runners-up in those events and the two Ryder Cup contenders are the standout quality in the field and they should be battling it out come Sunday afternoon.
Gregory Havret is a good outside bet at 66/1 to win in his home country. See the full Vivendi Cup golf betting market here.
