• Harrington says he is ‘putting his golfing legacy on the line’ • He defends Rory McIlroy over European Tour comments

It was a case of when, not if, Padraig Harrington would enjoy a Ryder Cup captaincy coronation in the minds of everyone but the man himself. Harrington admitted upon his unveiling as Europe’s leader for 2020 at Whistling Straits that the thought of failure left him with a sense of trepidation to the point where accepting the European Tour’s overtures was far from the formality the rest of us assumed. This proved an endearing nod towards the self-doubt which consumes even – or perhaps more so – sportspeople at the highest level.

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Harrington raised a smile when contemplating how his fellow Irishman Paul McGinley has made all subsequent captains work harder given how he prepared for 2014 at Gleneagles. “Everything was lining up,” Harrington explained. “But I had to be confident that I wanted to do it.

“I didn’t want to walk into this and be halfway through going: ‘I don’t know about this.’ It’s a job – and I have to blame McGinley, not thank him – that you have to be committed to. It is a two-year job, 20-month job and I had to sit down and say: ‘Am I prepared to do this?’ If it ever was, this is no longer a jolly.”

There then followed what will widely be interpreted as a dig at Nick Faldo, a decorated player but hapless captain of Europe in 2008. “We have seen once or twice in the past, once, anyway, where your captain has done a half-hearted job and it doesn’t end well,” Harrington said. “I’m good at hitting a little white golf ball. Does that mean I’m good at managing? I had to ask myself these questions, am I prepared to do this, and I was. That’s basically it.

“I love playing golf, I really do. I enjoy it. This is what I love doing, is playing golf, but I’m prepared to put my golfing legacy on the line here. I could easily have just walked away from this and said: ‘Oh, it’s not for me, I’ve had a successful golf career.’

“I don’t want to be a winning captain at all costs but I want to be a winning captain. These are the things that you have to sit down and think: ‘Can I do the job.’”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Padraig Harrington’s appointment was announced at Wentworth. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters

In truth, it seems fanciful to suggest Harrington’s standing within the game – having won 30 tournaments worldwide, including three major championships – would be seriously diminished in defeat next year. The 47-year-old conceded Whistling Straits itself, semi-European in style, formed part of his thought process for a biennial event which has become home-team dominated in recent times.

“I’ve never taken on anything where I haven’t tried to give it 100% and win,” Harrington added. “I am committed, and yes, it [the result] will have an effect [on me]. Hopefully a more positive effect than a negative effect, if I win. But it’s something that you’d better embrace, because it will have that asterisk, if you don’t win it.

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“You could be a great captain and lose and people will find fault in it. You could be a poor captain and win and people will think you did a great job. So I have to get over that.

“I came home from the Ryder Cup after Darren Clarke’s loss [in 2016] and I remember some guy coming up to me and starting to explain to me all that went wrong. He wanted me to throw my captain under the bus and I just turned around and said: ‘I was part of all those decisions. I was there.’ But it’s amazing, he wanted it to be black and white and it’s not.”

Harrington suggested he will cut by one the four wildcard selections utilised by Thomas Bjørn before success at Le Golf National last year. The double Open champion also issued a staunch and timely defence of Rory McIlroy, who was criticised for branding the European Tour a “stepping stone” before kicking off his season in Hawaii last weekend. Harrington has no doubts whatsoever regarding the Northern Irishman’s commitment to his home continent.

“I can only look at his actions,” Harrington said. “That man loves the Ryder Cup. He has become a leader in the team room. He gives so much to the Ryder Cup.

“He’s 30 years of age [in May] and he gets to be a leader. He will be 100% behind and in that Ryder Cup team, there’s no doubt about it. You just have to know the man behind the scenes.”