(Daily Telegraph)
Updated: 2007-08-09 10:49

Tiger Woods, who is looking to win his first major of 2007 at this week's PGA Championship, would not have it yesterday that he is, as the American magazines are saying here, the most influential athlete in the world at the moment. To him, the suggestion is "funny" in the light of David Beckham's arrival to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"I don't see how Beckham didn't beat me," he said. "As far as global figures go, he's probably far more global than I am. You know, golf is not played all around the world."

Last week in Akron, Woods had all the incentive which goes with trying to defeat Rory Sabbatini, the South African who had been putting it about that Woods was eminently beatable.

This week, the fact he is two for three in the majors so far is not entirely enough. Yet you can rest assured that had he come through Tulsa Airport, he would have taken note of the poster stretching across the arrivals hall. Though he was the winner of last year's PGA Championship, the player clutching the famous Wanamaker Trophy in that wall-to-wall picture is none other than Phil Mickelson, the 2005 champion.

Why? One of the less controversial explanations was as follows: "Somebody didn't think. They just plastered Phil's face up on the wall and that was it."

Padraig Harrington, who is attempting to win his second major of the season, confirmed yesterday that he has ordered a thousand copies of the 18th-hole flag from Carnoustie along with three replicas of the Claret Jug. That little lot would have cost him around ￡70,000.

When asked if the flags were for friends or charitable causes, Harrington acknowledged that it was for the latter. "I don't have 1,000 friends," he said, his cheerful proclamation detonating not a few quizzical looks from his fellow Irishmen. Like Angel Cabrera, who won the US Open, and Lorena Ochoa, who won the Ricoh Women's British Open last weekend, Harrington is popular beyond belief in his homeland.

Harrington had asked other major winners what they had needed in the way of championship memorabilia and someone had advised that they had purchased 500 flags and it had been far too few. Signed flags are apparently the answer for charity auctions and the requests are pouring in on a daily basis.

When he was at home in the week after the Open, Harrington set the Claret Jug on the breakfast table in order that he could enjoy it with his tea and toast.

For the purposes of this week, however, the trophy has been locked away along with the memories, fresh though they may be. "At this point," he said, "I've got to believe I have more of a chance of winning here because of what I did at Carnoustie. I'm trying to prepare in the same way as I did for then and if I don't perform, I won't be able to console myself on Sunday evening by thinking, 'Oh well, I did win the Open'. I will be disappointed."

Harrington has as good a sense of humour as any of them and yesterday he was recalling his introduction on his first tee at Akron last Thursday. "In the 24 hours leading up to it," he explained, "I'd been telling everyone how I was working on not getting emotional when they called me 'Open champion' because I didn't want to be distracted."

As it transpired, there was no introduction beyond "Padraig Harrington, Ireland". The old starter who used to make a song and dance about everyone's achievements had been given the push.

Colin Montgomerie, who did nothing to write home about last week in Akron, was working with Pete Cowen on the range yesterday. At Carnoustie, he had two coaches on the go and was being teased mercilessly by his fellow players. Here the situation would seem to have been resolved.

Cowen is the 'away' coach, Denis Pugh the 'home' coach.