You gotta love Paddy Harrington.

The more the world’s hottest player reveals about how he thrives on fear and the terrifying possibility that his next shot might well be his worst yet, the more he sounds like he could use a self-help session with Stuart Smalley. ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!")

Yesterday at the Barclays, Harrington once again expounded on his demons within. “Most of my life I’ve been motivated by fear,” he said, “When some people play their best golf, they stand over every shot and don't see a miss. I’d love to be able to be the guy who doesn’t see the miss, and stand there and play with that confidence.”

But Harrington isn’t that guy, and likely never will be, he said.

“I took no confidence out of winning the Open last year,” he said. “I still played the same way. I'd love to say that I will turn up and play this week and stand on the first tee and strut my stuff, but that's just not what I'm like."

Paddy, please. If a three-time major winner can’t do a little peacocking, who can? Rich Beem, 2002 PGA champion, any thoughts?

“What Padraig said is absolutely brilliant, because you don’t want to lose that edge, and you don’t want to lose ground to your fellow competitors,” said the Beemer, also on hand at the Barclays. “If you get too relaxed in what you're doing, it's harder to get that back.”

Beemer should know. He’s 114th in the FedEx Cup points race.