Padraig Harrington has confirmed that he will take part in The 3 Irish Open from May 14-17 at Baltray in County Louth.

Harrington won The Irish Open in 2007, shortly before capturing his first major at the British Open.
 
“You couldn't underestimate how important winning The Irish Open was in terms of going onto win The Open at Carnoustie,” said Harrington on his website.
 
“It told me that I could go and win a tournament under a lot of focus, pressure and distractions, which gives you a huge amount of self-confidence when you can come through something like that.”
 
Harrington hopes this year's Irish Open can act as a fillip in his preparations to win a third straight British Open title.

“I think that with this year’s event being on a classic links course like Baltray, it could instill a lot of confidence and assist when looking ahead to Turnberry and going there to try and defend The Open again,” said the 37-year-old.
 
“Playing The Irish Open on a links course will, in a way, naturally start my preparations for The Open because so many of the conditions will be similar.”

A proud Irishman, outside the majors, the Irish Open is the next tournament on Harrington’s must-win list.
 
“It’s certainly a very big deal for an Irishman to win a national title in front of his home crowd. Our country really supports its sportsmen and women with unbelievable passion, and I think that kind of support has helped so many Irish sports stars to achieve great success.”