Harrington aiming to maintain fine US form

Padraig Harrington, first and second in his last two stroke play events in America and £1m richer because of it, hopes to show his liking for US Tour life again this week.

While Colin Montgomerie has returned home to ponder a five-week spell in which he failed to break 70, Harrington puts his growing reputation on the line in the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta from today. Conqueror of Tiger Woods in the Target World Challenge in California in December, the Ryder Cup Irishman was denied only by a brilliant closing round from Davis Love in the Players Championship in Florida on Sunday.

Now he returns to a Sugarloaf course where he opened with rounds of 69 and 65 last year to be only one shot off the lead before slipping back to eighth place. Harrington, up to eighth in the world and the leading European for the first time, is one of 24 players in the tournament with one eye on next week's Masters.

With Woods and Love resting and Ernie Els giving the wrist he injured hitting a punchbag time to recover, the two big names the Dubliner will be trying to bring down this time are the world No 3 Phil Mickelson and the defending champion Retief Goosen.

Also in the field are the 1999 Open champion, Paul Lawrie, who has taken the place vacated by his fellow Scot Montgomerie, and the English pair Luke Donald and John Morgan.