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Fear factor the biggest threat to McIlroy - Harrington

Padraig Harrington has cautioned against expecting too much from Rory McIlroy © Getty Images

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Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington believes Rory McIlroy will only now face the biggest obstacle on his path to greatness - fear.

Harrington believes the newly-crowned US Open champion has already shown he has the mental strength to cope with the huge expectations being heaped on his shoulders, as many commentators anticipate he will go on to win many more major championships.

But the Irishman has warned we will only see over the next few years whether the 22-year-old carries the same trait only the greatest golfers seem to have - an ability to stave off the fear factor that gradually wears down lesser rivals.

"Perhaps only 0.01 per cent of golfers have figured out how to control their fear," Harrington said, according to The Times. "You've got to think Jack Nicklaus, you've got to think Ben Hogan. But there are very, very few. The rest - over 99 per cent of golfers - have some fear in their game, to different degrees.

"Why does a guy win a tournament one week and then miss the cut the next week? Why does a guy look like a superstar for six months or a year and then he's gone the following year? There are very few players who have sustainability or longevity. We are all just trying to keep our head above water."

One example that comes to mind is Sergio Garcia - who burst onto the scene as an exuberant youngster but, after a number of heartbreaks in the majors, now appears out of love with the game and, at 31, seems gripped by fear over the short putts that often decide tournaments.

Unlike the Spaniard, McIlroy has already won a major, but Harrington believes negative memories from individual shots can begin to take their toll over time.

"Kids coming into the game are usually fearless; they have no scars, no mental damage," Harrington said. "They fire at pins where there's water, there's no anxiety. Usually those players are not - I won't use the word 'bright', because it's not to do with intelligence - but usually they don't think anything through. They just go about their business.

"But when the can of worms opens, all of a sudden that playing with freedom, the naivety, the ease of their game, is gone. Suddenly there are complications. Look at careers that have gone completely off the wall. There was no fear, then all of a sudden there is fear.

"Rory is still young. He's had a few hard lessons that will help him get there. I think Rory's at a saturation point: you can throw more pressure on him but he's already at the point where more pressure doesn't show up. He has got unbelievable focus. But can he have, long-term, no fear?

"Rory has won a major, so there's not a burden there, it's obviously easier than having no major. But there is still a lot of pressure."

Perhaps ironically, Harrington believes Lee Westwood - another player yet to win a major - is one of the few players currently on tour who seem not to exhibit any fear on the golf course.

"Defending a one-shot lead is distinctly different than a seven or eight-shot lead. With a one-shot lead, anything can happen in a major. A one-shot lead is no safety at all. He's not defending in that situation. He's got to play golf," Harrington noted.

"It comes back to that fear thing. For me, a guy like Lee Westwood is not far away from that. Lee would be a perfect example of one who is in that one per cent of fearless golfers."

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