Padraig Harrington Amazes Fans With Heartfelt Answer About Parenting And Golf

While all eyes were affixed to Tiger Woods and his son Charlie at this weekend’s PNC Championship, they were far from the only father-son combo at the event.

One of those other combinations included three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and his youngest son Ciaran.

During the first round, a reporter asked Padraig how Ciaran got involved with the game of golf.

Harrington’s answer was more in-depth and heartfelt than anybody expected.

“I would say to a lot of people, you think providing these for your kids is good, but not really,” he said of having golf facilities in his backyard. “When it’s easy for kids, they just tend not to want to do it. In hindsight, the best way if you want to get your kid into the game of golf is bring them somewhere where you’re not stressed. That’s very important. Kids pick up on that.

“Let them do what they like when they’re there. Have a bit of fun. If they want to hit one shot, two shots, 10 shots, play in the bunker, look at the whatever, or whatever they want to do, let them do. And generally, bring them home before they get tired. So, the best thing you can do with a kid early on in golf is say hey, we have to go home. And don’t wait ‘til they get tired and hate it, wait ‘til they’re actually enjoying themselves, go home.”

Padraig Harrington Says Love Of The Game Is Essential To Get Kids Involved In Golf

Harrington then explained why it was important to spend time with children off the course as well.

“And the last thing I would say, and this has nothing to do with being a competitive player, it’s about the love of the game. When you’re finished, take 10 minutes to spend with your son or daughter and go and have a Coke, a Pepsi, this week. Go and have a Pepsi in the bar, wherever it is, and sit there, have an ice cream, and spend 10-15 minutes. Because, if they have that 15 minutes alone time with you, just you and them, for the rest of life, every time they play golf, they’ll remember the 15 minutes they had with their father or mother.

“And that’s what’ll keep bringing them back to college for the next … and remember, these kids will play golf for 90 years. There’s a good chance my kids will be playing when they’re 100. It’s a long career and if every time they play golf it’s bringing that happy memory of when they were a kid and they just got a bit of alone time, a bit of quiet time, a bit of big boy time, you know, when they’re sitting there in the clubhouse and enjoying it. Don’t bring them to the nice country club. That’s not use, that makes them soft anyway.

“And remember, it’s unlikely if your kid gets good at the game that doesn’t necessarily make them love the game. If your kid loves the game, it’s likely that they’ll become good. It’s the love should be first and it’s even more important to get a love for the game because we all know you plateau when you play golf. There’s many plateaus where it really gets frustrating. And if you don’t love it, those plateaus are going to stop your playing, you’re going to give up whereas if you love it you’ll go through anything.”

Harrington and his son Ciaran finished the event at 7-under in a tie for 19th. But it’s clear that the result was the last thing the golf legend cared about.