HERTFORDSHIRE, England -- Padraig Harrington says the practice round he played at The Grove on Wednesday “must have been the hardest 18 holes of golf I've ever had to play.”

He was exhausted from the rigors of the Ryder Cup last week. His heart – and his mind – simply weren’t in yet another round of golf.

Thursday’s first round of the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship was another story, though. Birdies on his first two holes peaked Harrington’s “interest” and the resulting round of 64 left the Dubliner one shot off the lead.

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“I’m sure if I had started with a few bogeys, I would have found it very hard to stay motivated,” Harrington said. “But a couple of birdies early on, and now 64. Instead of having a very relaxed, easy-going week, now it’s a bit of work ahead of me.”

Especially when the man you’re chasing is Tiger Woods, who is seeking to successfully defend his title for the 16th time and win the American Express Championship for the fifth time on five different courses.

Oh, and Woods, who made seven birdies, an eagle and just one bogey on Thursday, happens to be seeking his sixth straight victory on the PGA TOUR this year. So did the Irishman come to The Grove and immediately see it as a course that would suit the world No. 1?

“I was struggling to think about myself, let alone anybody else,” Harrington said, smiling. “I would never approach an event (as) anything about anybody else, who it suits. I'd just totally look at myself, as Tiger would definitely not be approaching this event trying to figure out who's going to challenge him.

“The challenge is always within yourself and how you compete. There's no need to look to somebody else to motivate you.”

And Harrington has plenty of motivation for his final three events of the year.

He’s currently 58th on the PGA TOUR money list and needs to work his way into the top 30 to be eligible to play in the season-ending TOUR Championship. He’s currently sixth on the European Tour Order of Merit and faces an uphill battle to displace Paul Casey at the top, as well.

The $1.3 million that goes to the winner on Sunday would go a long way toward helping on both counts. Not to mention, a World Golf Championships title would be the biggest of Harrington’s career, and a confidence-boost the Irishman needs to raise his game up a notch. “I've won other events, and this would be the next progression, next stepping stone to a world event,” said Harrington, a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR with nine more international victories.

“After a world event, majors; so I've progressed nicely in my career all the way up so far. But I don't have any world events and I don't have any majors. If I had done everything else in a slow progression, which I tend to do, it would be an event like this that I win next, and that's a steppingstone to have the confidence to go on and win a major.”

Harrington is coming off a sub-par Ryder Cup where he contributed just a half-point to the European victory. He was literally the face of the event, which Harrington said “lived up to the dream,” on larger-than-life promotional posters everywhere one turned.