CARY, N.C. – PGA Tour player and three-time major champion Padraig Harrington had a relaxed fireside chat with the North Carolina Central University men's and women's golf teams in partnership with Mutual of Omaha on Thursday evening prior to Harrington and the Eagles beginning play in their respective events at the SAS Championship hosted by the PGA Tour Champions at Prestonwood Country Club over the weekend of Oct. 14-16.
 
"Firstly, we as a team want to thank both Padraig Harrington as well as Mutual of Omaha for allowing us to spend some time learning about the mental side of golf from a former major champion," said NCCU graduate assistant coach Travis Jackson.
 
Harrington, a Mutual of Omaha sponsor, has spent over 300 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings and was able to provide detailed instruction, tips and advice along with enjoyable Irish storytelling to the 14 Eagles in the room. The focus of the Q&A style chat was on the mental side of golf. Harrington broke down his mental approach to each shot, his thoughts on how to practice efficiently, how he dealt with winning and losing tournaments and pressure situations, competing with greats of the game like Tiger Woods and his overall love and respect for the game of golf.
 
"All of the tips and advice that were given were incredibly helpful and I'm excited to see how implementing them will improve our play as a team," said Jackson. "Padraig touched on the importance of a consistent routine, acceptance after poor shots, and how to manage yourself under pressure. NCCU golf as a whole will benefit greatly from this time and will continue to improve as a program thanks to his insight."
 
Harrington was thoughtful, detailed and inspiring in his responses to a variety of questions posed by the Eagles throughout the session while also being funny and lighthearted with the student-athletes. He also answered several individualized questions at the end as each NCCU golfer received autographs and took pictures with the PGA champion (2008) and two-time British Open champion (2007, 2008).
 
Both sides seemed eager to talk into the night. However, the chat did come to an end on Thursday with everyone needing to prepare for a big weekend of golf.
 
Harrington begins play in the SAS Championship on the Highlands Course at Prestonwood Country Club. The three-day, big-purse event is the final regular season counting tournament on the PGA Tour Champions schedule heading into the Charles Schwab Cub playoffs. Harrington is currently ranked second in those standings out of 200 golfers (top 72 advance to the playoffs).
 
NC Central will be competing in the inaugural SAS Championship HBCU Invitational that features 10 men's teams and five women's programs. After the Eagles participate in a Career Day on the SAS campus and play a practice round on the Fairways Course on Friday, both NCCU teams will play 36 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday.
 
Harrington, who has won 35 professional tournaments in his career and participated in six consecutive Ryder Cup's for Team Europe, is a long-standing Mutual of Omaha ambassador. The Fortune 500 financial company is a corporate partner of the PGA Tour and with NCCU golfs growing relationship with the PGA Tour through interim head coach Kendra Greene the Eagles were able to meet Padraig.