Padraig Harrington says he is humbled by the news that he is to be the third Irishman inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame after Joe Carr and Christy O'Connor senior.
Harrington, 51, learned that he will be inducted next year after winning three major titles and one senior major crown.
He was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2008 and has played in six Ryder Cup teams before captaining Europe last time out.
READ MORE: Padraig Harrington to be inducted into Golf Hall of Fame
"Humbling to be included with the class of 2024 but also humbling to be included with the people who have gone before me," said Harrington.
"Lots of those are people I would put up on a pedestal so to be there with them forever is very humbling.
“There is a certain amount of not just joy but validation in that I am at a stage of my career now, 51 years of age, you are looking back on what you did. To get included in the Hall of Fame certainly brings that sense of...I did it.
“It brings validation to what I did in the past and it’s a very nice reminder of the good days that have gone before me.”
Harrington, who has enjoyed 21 worldwide victories as a professional, put his ability to dream big in the sport he obsesses over down to being Irish.
"I think we punch above our weight in everything in Ireland," said the Stackstown man.
"When you travel the world, there's Irish-born people at the top of businesses all around the world and people of Irish heritage all the way through business and politics. We're pretty good at not feeling like we have any limits.
"Certainly I think that's the greatest thing about my own personality that's helped me in my career. I've never felt like I couldn't do it.
"Now, what I mean by that is I didn't think there was a rule that says an Irish player can't go and win a major. I never looked at it like just because somebody else hadn't done it before me, I never felt that there was anything stopping me, that I could go out and do it.
"In some ways you could say I played with blinkers. I didn't overthink it. I didn't think too much about what other people hadn't done.
"I think Irish people have a good outlook like that, that we get on and do it rather than thinking about why we can't do it or why we're not allowed to do it.
"That's definitely not in the Irish language. If somebody says we're not allowed to do it, we're more likely to go and do it.
"When it comes to what we've done and our influence on the world, it's far greater than the size of our country for sure.
"As a golfer, as a person, I don't know, maybe it was just the way I was brought up in my family, but I never thought there was anything that could stop me or hold me back.
"That doesn't mean I thought I could do it, I just didn't question that there was no reason why I couldn't do it. There was no rule to say I couldn't do it.
"I certainly didn't overthink it in that sense, just because nobody had won majors. I didn't think that was any reason why I couldn't win them.
"We're pretty good that way, I think, in Ireland, that we certainly punch above our weight."
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