As the sun glistened brightly over New Jersey on Thursday, August 21, crowds gathered in Paramus to see some of the world's finest golfers compete in the first round of the Barclays FedExCup at Ridgewood Country Club.

Among the world's top golfers was Ireland's golden boy Padraig Harrington. The two time British Open champion and newly crowned U.S. PGA champion's play on Thursday was followed and admired by many Irish and Irish American fans who took the day off work to see their favorite sportsman live in action last week.

Although Harrington, who teed off alongside American pros Kenny Perry and Phil Mickelson, failed to make the cut on Friday, his fans were far from disappointed.

Mayo woman Caroline Roche and her friend Trish Kubinski (whose father hails from Drogheda, Co. Louth) left Middle Village in Queens early Thursday morning to see Harrington in action.

While Roche said she was disappointed Harrington wasn't "putting very well," she said she was still very proud of him. "He can't win all the tournaments," she added.

Sean Lyons and Diarmuid Doherty, both residents of Philadelphia, are big fans of Harrington. "We've seen Padraig play many times," said Lyons, "even in Ireland."

Lyons and Doherty, who are business partners in a construction company and more importantly golfing buddies, told the Irish Voice they planned to spend the weekend at the Barclay's, hoping that Harrington, who putts cross-handed since the day he turned pro, would climb up the ladder and give them value for their money.

"We're big Pat fans and always have been even before he started winning any majors," Doherty said.

With one eye on Harrington as he teed off from the seventh, Lyons said that although they were enjoying their time on Thursday, they were more excited about the upcoming Ryder Cup which is to take place this September in Kentucky.

"There are about 12 of us, mostly Irish, heading to Kentucky to watch some world-class golf," said Doherty.

Obviously supporting Harrington's European Ryder team, Lyons said that he is confident the lads will pull it off. "My money is definitely on Europe," he said, while clapping as Harrington finished the seventh.

Early risers Dermot Flynn and his 11-year-old son Colin, from Connecticut, trailed Harrington, Perry and Mickelson from the 10th hole which teed off at 8:16 a.m. Dermot, who hails from Co. Offaly, attended the Ryder Cup two years ago and was enjoying the time with his son in New Jersey last week.

Senior and Junior Flynn watched Harrington as he opened at the par-three 10th by hitting his tee shot four feet from the hole for a birdie. "I'm having a great time," said Colin, who was sporting an Irish jersey.

Speaking about Harrington's recent streak of wins, Flynn said, "It was only a matter of time and confidence and I don't think he will stop now."

However, Flynn doesn't think Harrington will "touch Tiger" but he is sure the Irish golfer will achieve a Masters victory very soon. "I think he will definitely win six or seven majors," he said.

Speaking about Harrington's lackluster performance on Thursday, Flynn said that the Dublin golfer was well capable of catching up. "He has pulled it out of the hat before and he can do it again," he said.

While Perry and Mickelson seemed to be doing significantly better than the Dubliner on Thursday, Harrington's fans remained loyal. He may have missed a few vital shots, but there was never the sound of disappointment or upset from Harrington's fans.

"Sure why would we be upset," said Tom Mahoney, who watched from the sidelines with friends who were supporting Mickelson. "He can't win them all."

Mahoney, from Boonton, New Jersey felt that Harrington's motivation for winning the FedExCup was the "huge sum of money up for grab." ($7 million in the purse).

However, Harrington told senior director of communications for the PGA Tour Laura Hill that his first and foremost motivation for winning the FedEx Cup was to collect the title Player of the Year."I've done it in Europe and it would be very nice to do it in the States," he said.

As the crowd were asked to remain silent for each shot at Ridgewood, there were many fans making mental additions and subtractions in their head and some even on paper, trying to figure out if Harrington - who spent time giving Irish silver Olympic medalist Kenny Egan advice about his big boxing event prior to his trip to Beijing - was in with any sort of chance on Thursday.

Front row, donned in white trousers and a black shirt and supporting the Dublin man was his wife Caroline, who watched with bated breath as her husband played the round. When asked by the Irish Voice about her husband's performance, she kindly declined to comment, stating that she doesn't do interviews.

Amid the spectators and golfers were 1,600 volunteers who kept the green in meticulous shape and the golfers happy.

Tom Ahearn, whose grandparents hailed from Limerick, lives in Bergenfield, New Jersey and signed up to helping out over the few days at The Barclays. The Irish American, like many of his fellow volunteers, wanted to see Harrington do well.

Ahearn, who played golf at Ballybunion in Co. Kerry and thoroughly enjoyed it, was hoping over the course of the few days in New Jersey that he would get to have a few words with Harrington.

Not only did volunteer John Shea from Monroe, New York, get to speak with Harrington, he had the pleasure of driving him around on Wednesday.

"He was a gentleman," said Shea, chairman of the media center committee, about Harrington. "He was very interested in my family background and asked me all about it," recalls Shea, who said his mother's family originate from Co. Roscommon.

Shea, unlike most of the volunteers at the Barclay's, was able to greet the Dubliner in his ancestral native tongue.

"Dia Dhuit," he said welcoming the Irish Voice to a media lunch. "I've been learning Gaelic," he said.

Shea's wife has been learning Irish for 13 years and travels to Ireland every year to attend one of the countries many Gaeltachts.

While his wife studies Irish, Shea plays golf around Ireland, both north and south.

Harrington, who had just won his third major 10 days before the Barclay's at Oakland Hills close to Detroit, shot an opening round 72, one over par and 10 strokes behind Thursday's leader Hunter Mahan of Texas.

However, on Friday Harrington's luck began to fade, and after a poor performance he failed to make the cut for the weekend.

Last year, Harrington also struggled in the first couple of weeks of the FedEx Cup tournaments and ended up pulling out of the third one, citing fatigue as the reason.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, August 19 prior to the tournament kick off, Harrington said he was motivated. "There's a lot to play for. You know, anybody realistically, anybody in the Top 10 I suppose, if they get at least one win and then follow it up with some good performances can with this FedEx Cup," he said.

Slightly more serious about Harrington's ability, Brendan Long, a 67-year-old golfer from Long Island, who claims to have played every golf course in Ireland, told the Irish Voice that Harrington "shouldn't have missed a lot of those short putts around the middle holes."

Long, whose mother and father came from Waterford, insisted that Harrington has the ability to do better. "I've seen Padraig play a number of times in the past and I've seen him do great, I think today he is just having a bad day," empathized Long, who was accompanied by his wife Molly.

Harrington took a week off to oversee a house he is building in Tryon, North Carolina prior to the Barclay's.

When asked why he chose to set up home in North Carolina and not Florida like many of his fellow golfers, he said, "First of all, the guys that are developing are Irish, and they brought it to my attention and I went to visit it," he said.

He added that he was impressed with the cleanliness of the place, "the clear air, crisp and beautiful, somewhere I would like to go with my family."

Harrington is to continue on his quest for the FedExCup, which takes place in Boston thi week for the Deutsche Bank Championship. The numbers have been narrowed down from 144 to 120, with only the top 70 players in points moving ahead after this week.

Although Harrington didn't make the cut in New Jersey, he had secured enough points to play this week in Boston.

Irish fans in America's most Irish city will no doubt be out in force.