Pádraig Harrington's 500 DP World Tour events have seen him experience and achieve many remarkable things.
He has teed it up in 33 countries, winning 15 events across ten of them including three Major Championships.
But the one that he feels is the most important may surprise you..........
After turning professional in September of 1995 at the age of 24, Harrington made his pro and DP World Tour debut with a missed cut at the Smurfit European Open later that month.
A trip to the Qualifying School saw him earn his playing privileges for 1996 and in February he headed to South Africa for the FNB Players Championship and a week that would potentially change the course of golfing history.
"Probably the most pivotal moment in my career was my very first tournament in 1996 as a member," he said.
"I got a late invite... flew in from Nairobi on the Tuesday night, practised for 14 hours on the Wednesday, got badly dehydrated and should have gone to hospital but we didn't do that back in those days, didn't know any better.
"I played with clubs that were four degrees too upright so I had to grip them on the steel, just about everything went wrong.
"I couldn't have played worse, hit it everywhere, tight golf course at Durban Country Club, it was horrendous.
"I probably chipped and putted every hole, I probably had 22 putts a round or whatever but that was what I did so I discounted that, everything else was terrible.
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"So I finished up and I had the worst golfing week of my life and I finished 49th.
"I rang my mother, on a payphone back then, no mobile phones, and I said 'you can't believe it, everything went wrong, I did this, this and this so badly'. And she said 'how did you do?'. I said 'I finished 49th, I won £1,460, they are just giving it away'.
"But it was so pivotal because there is no better feeling than feeling like your worst is good enough.
"A lot of guys coming out, they play well and miss a cut and that's just circumstantial on the Tour, there's a lot of depth and they feel their best isn't good enough, whereas I started off, my worst was good enough.
"I made seven cuts in a row, then three top tens and then a win all based on the fact that I felt very comfortable straight away.
"And a lot of fear that it was all going to disappear, I always have played with fear and they have been my best performances with fear. But the fact that my bad stuff was good enough [meant] I got very comfortable on the Tour."
So for Harrington, event number two was the key, and here we take a look at that and eight more that have defined one of the great DP World Tour careers.
1 - Smurfit European Open (1995)
Harrington's first start came on home turf at The K Club very shortly after entering the paid ranks but it was not to be the start of which he would have been dreaming.
Rounds of 77-73 saw him miss the cut by one and he revealed his very presence on Tour was already being questioned by his peers.
"I always remember one of my playing partners going into the clubhouse at my local golf club, The K Club... he said 'why is this guy turning pro, he has no chance'. This is where I played and practised."
Talk about being wrong........
2 - FNB Players Championship (1996)
The way Harrington has spoken about his experience in Durban, you would think he had put up some big numbers but opening rounds of 72-71 saw him make the cut before a 73-71 weekend helped him finish one under, 17 shots behind champion Wayne Westner.
A first payday and more importantly a feeling of belonging would lay the foundations for all that was to come.
10 - Peugeot Spanish Open (1996)
After starting the season with eight consecutive made cuts including three top tens in his last three starts, Harrington was a winner in just his tenth DP World Tour event.
Weather delays meant the final 36 holes had to be played on the Sunday and he entered the day with a three-shot lead before extending it to six with a 67.
A closing 71 was his higest round of the week but the hard work had already been done and Harrington was the victor at 16 under, four shots clear of Gordon Brand Jr.
174 - Dunhill Links Championship (2002)
A four-time winner on Tour and the previous year's runner-up for the Harry Vardon Trophy, Harrington ended his DP World Tour play-off hoodoo at the Old Course.
He had lost in extra holes in the three previous seasons but had the momentum when he holed an 18-footer on the 72nd hole to join Eduardo Romero at 19 under.
After the first play-off hole was halved in par fours, Romero appeared to be favourite when his second shot to the second finished four feet from the flag with Harrington eight feet away. However the Irishman’s putter again proved his salvation as he holed for a birdie three while Romero pushed his birdie effort.
Victory was doubly sweet for Harrington as he and fellow Irishman, race horse owner JP McManus, claimed the team event.
"Even through I was a stroke behind with two to play I was feeling positive and I made couple of great putts, first to get into the play-off and second to win," said Harrington, who just a week earlier had helped Europe to Ryder Cup victory at The Belfry.
"These last two weeks have easily been the best back-to-back weeks in my life, even if I had finished last here that would still have been the case."
259 - Irish Open (2007)
Harrington's love affair with his home open is well documented - he has never missed an edition for which he has been exempt, playing 30 in a row since 1996.
He had twice been runner-up with three further top fives when he turned up at Adare Manor as Europe's Number One and he finally got his hands on the trophy he admitted was the next most important to him after the Majors.
Holding a three-shot lead after 54 holes, he was four ahead at the turn after eagling the ninth but two bogeys on the back nine saw him finish at five under and head to play-off with Bradley Dredge.
A par on the first extra hole was enough to see off the Welshman, however, and Harrington was an 11-time winner.
"I felt the pressure," he said. "It was probably the most nervous I've been for many a tournament.
"I've always said that after the four Majors this is the next event I've wanted to win.
"The crowd was fantastic. Even when I saved for bogey they cheered and the applause definitely gave me a boost."
263 - The 136th Open Championship (2007)
When Harrington arrived at Carnoustie, no European had won a Major since Paul Lawrie at the same venue eight years earlier.
But after a dramatic four days on the wild and windy Scottish coast it would come down to two Europeans as he defeated Spaniard Sergio Garcia in a play-off.
Harrington started the final day six shots behind Garcia who had a three-shot lead but was one ahead on the 18th tee only to find the Barry Burn twice and do well to surrender a double-bogey.
That meant Garcia would have a putt for the title but when his ten-footer slid by, extra holes would decide the fate of the Claret Jug.
A birdie on the first extra hole coupled with a Garcia bogey swung the play-off in Harrington's favour and he would finish the four holes at level to Garcia's one over.
“Always my goal was to win more than one Major and if I crossed the threshold and won one, as I have done now, I always want to win more," said Harrington.
"I’m going to celebrate like it’s the pinnacle of my career but I’ve got other goals to move on with now. I’m certainly going to enjoy this one though now, and for the foreseeable future. Forever actually.”
He did not have to wait long for another.
278 - The 137th Open Championship (2008)
Just 12 months and 15 events later, Harrington became the first European to successfully defend the Claret Jug since 1906.
He had to do it through incredible adversity, however, with a wrist injury almost ruling him out of the event, 40mph gusts battering Royal Birkdale and 53-year-old Greg Norman having the support of the romantics.
Norman led by two heading into the final round and one at the turn as Harrington bogeyed the seventh, eighth and ninth but a remarkable back nine saw the Irishman birdie the 13th and 15th and eagle the 17th to romp to a four-shot victory at three over.
"I had a great year as Open Champion, so much so I didn't want to give it back," Harrington said of the "shinier" Claret Jug. "I'd like to put it right back where it was last year.
"I really tried not to think about the consequences of winning today but I did think it would be nice to have the trophy back on the breakfast table again.
"It's important that you go on and win a second Major. Very few people have won two Majors or back-to-back Majors. I was always trying to play that down but winning a second sets you apart. It's a new level and there's less people in that club."
280 - US PGA Championship (2008)
It took just two events for Harrington to add a third Major title and become the first European to win consecutive Majors and the first in over 75 years to lift the Wanamker Trophy.
Harrington began the final round on one over, three shots adrift of Ben Curtis – a deficit which grew to four by the fifth hole.
But three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the tenth lifted the then World Number Three alongside Garcia - who he was battling once more - and into a share of the lead at three under, one ahead of Curtis.
However, a second bogey of the day at the 14th soon dropped Harrington out of the lead, before the three players in contention were back on parity at two under after bogey by Garcia at the 16th.
Harrington seized the initiative with a birdie at the par-three 17th before he clinched a two-shot victory with a fantastic par save from 15 feet at the closing hole after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.
“I felt an edge in terms of my experience,” Harrington said. “I felt an edge in terms of my ability to take an opportunity when it comes around.”
396 - Portugal Masters (2016)
It would be 116 events and 2,996 days until Harrington won again on the DP World Tour and much water had passed under the bridge.
He felt he had had spells in the intervening years where he had played better than he did in his magical Major-winning 13 months but concedes in 2015 and 2016 he was "burnt out".
That makes his victory at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf course all the more remarkable.
A second-round 63 saw him surge into contention and while he entered the final round one shot off the leaders, a closing 65 was enough to give him a 23 under total and a one-shot victory over defending champion Andy Sullivan.
"It's a big win," he said. "Portugal Masters is a big tournament. I've been coming here for ten years so I've always liked it down here. I've always liked coming down to Portugal.
"There's so many Irish people here. It always felt like a home away from home, so it's really nice to win the tournament."
