Forget what happened at Hazeltine. Tiger Woods will remain the world No 1 and Padraig Harrington will continue to be the only man who actually - and actively - goes out there to stand in his way. For someone is finally showing the guts to take on Tiger at his own game.

For over a decade golf has been crying out for the kind of rivalry that legends are made of, yet for so much of that time Woods has been excellence in isolation. And it has not been so splendid. Too often Sunday afternoons have been little more than processions for him as would-be rivals, having vowed that they had the right stuff to beat him,

snapped like matchstick men. Woods’ intimidation of his rivals had become almost mythical before Harrington pushed himself through the saloon doors and started taking aim.

Woods had collected 14 Major titles going into the final round of the USPGA at Hazeltine but the body count is far greater than that number. The most notable of those downed, almost before they clambered clear of the trenches, are Phil Mickelson, Vijay Sing and Ernie Els. David Duval was No 1 a decade ago when Woods first began to suggest that he might become the greatest player of all time. The pressures of taking him on turned Duval into the basket case of golf.

Mickelson, Singh and Els have all won Majors since Tiger first started bagging the biggest trophies by donning the 1997 Green Jacket, but the response, especially from his fellow Americans, has in truth been feeble and from others, at times, pathetic. Harrington doesn’t do feeble. And he won’t join the pathetic line of players that appear to have become resigned to their fate of following behind him.

Some have suggested that last year’s Open triumph, followed swiftly by the title he arrived at Hazeltine to defend were reduced by the fact that Woods was on crutches at the time. But Woods was in the field when Harrington won his first Open the year before and the experience of beating him was what fuelled the burning desire to not just pursue him but maybe even to dominate him on occasion.

Harrington’s desire to win major tournaments has been nourished by his determination not to allow himself to be pushed around like all the rest – graphically illustrated last Saturday afternoon. He found himself five behind the man who now sees him not just as a good friend but a great rival and on all the evidence of the past ten years, almost anyone else would have collapsed and died. Not Harrington. He kept going. And he will keep going.

There have been many great rivalries in golf. Harry Vardon, John Henry Taylor and James Braid made up the Great Triumverate soon after the start of the last century. In the 1920s Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen dogged the steps of Bobby Jones all the way. Then came Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead before Jack Nicklaus caught and then left behind Arnold Palmer while Gary Player, Lee Trevino and especially Tom Watson slugged it out in the Majors.

Nicklaus beat the lot, of course, either personally or statistically, amassing the collection of 18 titles, and his historic achievement is all the more legendary because he always had to confront and defeat other great players. It may be him who lost the famous Duel in the Sun, but while Watson was presented with the Auld Claret Jug that amazing Sunday evening at Turnberry in 1977, Nicklaus was also hailed as a hero.

Now there is another, potentially great, rivalry. It is good for golf, it is good for Harrington and, make no mistake, Woods believes it is good for him. His victory at Akron eight days ago was all the better because it was over the only man he clearly believes is fit to stand up and swing at him.

Woods’ liking for him is just as obvious. He said: “Well Paddy is just – I’ve always felt he’s a great guy. We go back a long way. Paddy is an extremely hard worker, very patient, and really believes in himself and his game. It’s really nice to see someone who works that hard at his game to accomplish his goals and that’s certainly one of the things I’ve always admired about him.”

What he also likes about him is that he can feed off the rivalry. Now that Harrington is very much heading back to the top of his game Woods has someone around who can force him towards new heights. Until just over a year ago that wasn’t happening and it is a wonder that despite the lack of true grit being displayed by so many of his contemporaries he retained his ultra-competitive edge

The pair first became friends back in 1995 during the Ryder Cup, Harrington declaring that even then he knew what the future held. “He was the big dog. He was the man to beat then and I suppose he is the man to beat still” he says.

Over the past week the two have become like a mutual admiration society comprising of just two members. There has been some back-slapping and glad handing but no one should be fooled. Harrington is ferocious, almost obsessive, about hunting Tiger down. That was why he changed his swing. He knew he needed more ammunition....... and now he believes he is locked and loaded.

Woods is very well aware of the intent and the threat. He’s also glad about it. Everybody else who has grown tired of watching Tiger take a walk in the park should be, too. Harrington, of course, imploded at the eighth hole on the last day at Hazeltine while Woods, having won 14 Majors after leading each of them at the 54-hole stage, finally stumbled as Y.E. Yang became the first Korean to win a Major.

But Woods, we know, will be back. So, too, will Harrington who the week before Hazeltine also took an eight at Akron. Pars at both could easily have seen him win the WGC Bridgestone and a fourth grand slam title.

People are suggesting now that Woods' bubble may have burst. Don't believe it. When he needed to sink putts on the last day of the USPGA it just didn't happen for him, that's all.
He'll be favourite at every Major next season. Make no mistake about that. And dogging him all the way won't be Y.E. Yang, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink or Angel Cabrera, the four winners of the biggest events this season. It will be Padraig