Harrington honoured by American golf

writers for "co-operation and quotability"

Padraig Harrington, Hall of Famer Tom Watson, Ken Green and golf course architect Pete Dye have been honoured with three prestigious awards given by the Golf Writers Association of America.
Watson, who underwent total hip replacement surgery in 2008 and just eight months later nearly became the oldest player to win a major championship at 59, and Green, who lost the lower part of his right leg in a horrific accident that claimed the lives of his brother and girlfriend, share the Ben Hogan Award.
It is the first time in GWAA history there has been a tie for the award, given for remaining active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. The only other time an award voted on by the GWAA ended in a tie was the 1976 Male Player of the Year, shared by Jack Nicklaus and Jerry Pate.
Harrington, a three-time major champ, was honoured with the ASAPSports/Jim Murray Award, which recognises a golfer for co-operation, quotability and accommodation with the media, while Dye, who has designed some of the world's most challenging courses, was honoured with the William D. Richardson Award, given annually to recognise individuals who have consistently made an outstanding contribution to golf.
They will be honoured, along with GWAA Players of the Year Tiger Woods, Jiyai Shin and Loren Roberts at the Annual GWAA Awards Dinner, on April 7 in Augusta, Georgia.
Watson, who was honoured with the GWAA's Charlie Bartlett Award in 2004, lost a play-off to Stewart Cink at last year's Open Championship at Turnberry. The 60-year-old has won five Open Championships. Green, 51, is in rehabilitation and is determined to return to the Champions Tour in America.
Harrington, the 2008 GWAA Male Player of the Year, once explained to friends that players owed it to to the game to be co-operative with media "because they have the toughest job." He beat out Steve Stricker and 2009 Open champ Stewart Cink for the honour.
The influence of Dye's designs has put an imprint on the way courses are built and the way the game is played. One of his most famous designs is the TPC at Sawgrass, home of The Players' Championship.
Among his other designs are Whistling Straits, Black Wolf Run and PGA West. Dye, a past recipient of the PGA Tour's Lifetime Achievement Award, edged Hall of Famer Jackie Burke for the honour.
The 950-member GWAA takes an active role in protecting the interests in the United States of all golf journalists, works closely with all of golf's major governing bodies and the World Golf Hall of Fame and facilitates a scholarship/internship program.