Oh, the phone call was painful, implied European Ryder Cup Captain Jose Maria Olazabal but Harrington was not even on his radar according to this unbylined Scotsman item.
However, he insisted the Irishman could have no complaints after finishing 19th on the European points list at the end of a year-long qualifying campaign. “I felt I had to make the phone call to Padraig more than anyone else,” said Olazabal, who also got in touch with David Lynn, Rafael Cabrero-Bello, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Alvaro Quiros after they’d fallen just short as well. “Padraig is a very good player, but you could also say that about the likes of Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, other former Ryder Cup players. The fact is that he [Harrington] didn’t perform well enough. He’s a great champion, but Thomas [Bjorn] was also ahead of him on the list.”
So Padraig was always behind Bjorn and Olazabal is lumping him in with Casey (injured), Stenson (111th in the world) and Karlsson (swing yips).
It's a shame he's got four cart drivers already, as future captain Harrington would have looked great behind the wheel of a Club Car!