Irish golfer and newly announced PGA Tour Player of the Year Padraig Harrington, winner of both the 2008 British Open and U.S. PGA Championship, has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with international consulting firm FTI that will commence on January 1.

 Harrington, who was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year on Tuesday, ending Tiger Wood's three-year run as the top player, had been in discussions with FTI for some time, and an agreement was reached last week.

"The opportunity presented itself at the latter half of the year, and we have been in discussions with Padraig and his team for a partnership that would start January 1 for three years," said Paul Keary, senior managing director at FTI.

FTI Consulting, Inc., which employees more than 3,000 professionals across the world, is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex environment.

Harrington, 37, who also won the 2007 British Open, signed the biggest individual sponsorship deal ever made by an Irish sportsperson for an undisclosed multi million-dollar fee for a three-year period with FTI.

"We are delighted to have him on board and do hope it will be very successful," said Keary, a Co. Galway native.

Keary firmly believes Harrington was the right choice for FTI because, "he has a reputation for perseverance, determination and focus, being consistent and performing the same regardless of the situation. Our business is predominantly in event driven consulting, and we would like to think that those characteristics could be applied to our teams here at FTI," said Keary.

Another top reason for choosing Harrington, Keary said, was the golfer's background in finance.

"Padraig is also a qualified accountant and a number of people in FTI are qualified accountants, so he understands our business," said Keary.

Harrington will highlight the company as he travels the globe as a professional golfer. Replacing his previous sponsor Wilson, Harrington's golf hats will now have the FTI logo printed on the front.

"The FTI logo will appear on the front of his hat wherever he plays in the world. Our logo will be displayed not only at the golf tournament but also the television coverage that comes with those events," explains Keary.

FTI will also have the right to Harrington's image for the coming three years.

"We will be developing a marketing and advertising campaign using Padraig's image and likeness in the coming years. We will use his image of likeness for advertising and throughout the course of the next year and when he wins more majors."