Padraig Harrington was a late arrival to the professional scene, not turning pro until 1996, but he has more than made up for lost time and is now among the world's elite.

Harrington had a fine amateur career, helping secure the Walker Cup in 1995, and made a seamless transition to the professional ranks by winning the Spanish Open in his first year on Tour. The Irishman suffered a bout of seconditis for the next few years, but rediscovered the winning touch in 2000 and did not look back.

Harrington spent time on both the US and European Tours from 2000 onwards and finished second in the Players' Championship in 2003 and 2004. His first win in America came at the Honda Classic in 2005 and followed that up with a stirring success in the Barclays Classic which came courtesy of a monster putt which left Jim Furyk a stunned spectator.

He continued his fine run of form in 2006 and achieved one of his career goals when producing some stunning golf at the season-ending event in Valderrama to clinch the European Order of Merit. Harrington could proudly say he was the top player in European golf.

Harrington secured his first major win when beating Sergio Garcia in a play-off at Carnoustie in 2007 and defended his title 12 months later at Royal Birkdale. He went on to win the US PGA Championship the same year.

Team play figures prominently in Harrington's mind and he has been a regular in the European Ryder Cup team - being on the winning side in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010. . Harrington was forced to bat away criticism in 2010 when it was suggested that his game was in decline. He insisted that he was playing as well as ever - five top tens on the PGA Tour by July were testament to that - but his failure to produce a win was an easy target for his detractors.

Career high: Overhauling the stuttering Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie in 2007 propelled the Irishman to the stature of Major winner.

Career low: Struggled with an injury towards the end of 2008 and made some changes to his game for the 2009 season that took time to bear fruit and he was rarely seen in challenging positions until the back end of the year.

Quote: "I'm sure there's a hell of a party in Ireland now and I know I don't have anything to do for two-and-a-half days so I'm going to party on."

Trivia: Is a qualified accountant, having studied while playing as an amateur.