In fact the 32 professionals got a sweet deal, given that 31 amateurs each contributed €80 to compete on a challenging links where the Irish Men’s Amateur Open, an event won by Harrington in 1995, will be staged next month. Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell claimed the best gross with an admirable 73, beating fellow professional Niall Kearney of Royal Dublin on countback. Donal Murphy from the host club, playing off two, had a best net, also of 73.

As it happened, with all the professionals being assigned plus two, the winner of three Major championships was conceding two handicap strokes to one of his playing partners, which is in the nature of these events. And he proceeded to three-putt the 18th for a gross 76.

“I looked on this as an opportunity to give something back,” said Harrington, whose previous performance brought a reward of $206,925 for being tied 10th in the $8.9m Valero Texas Open. “The first cheque I earned as a pro was £70 from the Boyne Links, in the autumn of 1995.”

Harrington’s playing partners on Tuesday were Louis Grehan, assistant professional at The K Club, and Royal Dublin’s Richard Knightly, playing off plus four. After their round, the three of them sat together for about two and a half hours over lunch and cups of tea. During which time, youngsters appeared on the scene to be photographed with their obliging hero.

“When I played in Hilary and Links Society outings back in my amateur days, there were always pros around who were happy to share their views on golf,” he said. “The idea is to bring together pros and amateurs, people who love the game. Now, with the roles reversed, I’m happy to be the older guy.”

And the gathering included other older guys who appreciated his presence. Paddy McGuirk, former winner of the Carrolls International and retired professional at Baltray, braved the weather, along with perennial amateurs, Frank Gannon and Barry Reddan.

He watched last weekend’s fragmented Masters Tournament on television. In that context, Rory McIlroy’s collapse and missed cut didn’t seem to be a shock, rather it offered further evidence of the difficulties of life at the top. Harrington believes that expectations have reached the point of being a “serious burden.”

​“I have no wish to be disrespectful to the media in general but the truth is that most of you guys are not in a position to judge players’ personalities,” he said. “Sure, you can assess their performances on the course, even suggesting where they could try harder and work on obvious weaknesses. But the scrutiny on Rory goes way beyond that, into his personality.

“For the life of me, I haven’t found one of the better players who has had the complete package. Alongside their obvious strengths, there’s an area of weakness. And that’s what was great about Rory when I first got to know him as a young pro: the way he was working on becoming a better putter.

“Now, in analysing him, observers are going way beyond technique. Which is dangerous in my view, simply because the media don’t see the real individual. As fellow players, we can study how individuals behave towards people who are not important in their life. The waitresses, locker-room attendances, the clubhouse staff.

“When I talk of Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa as genuinely nice guys, I do so on the basis of what I have experienced and observed. Not on reputation. Nice guys do win. And there’s nothing wrong with being a nice person like Rory if you remain true to yourself. In fact, that’s when you’ll play to your best.

“On the other hand, Brooks Koepka comes across to me as two distinct individuals. Watch him as a golfer and he’s a surly, arrogant so and so. See him doing gentle interviews for Netflix and you ask yourself ‘who is this guy?’ Which is the real Brooks?

“People are generally on their best behaviour towards individuals who have the power to influence their lives. We can all be guilty of putting on affectations when we’re aware of being watched.

“So, we all get pigeon-holed. I’ve been the butt of laughter over the years as someone who obsesses about technique. Shane [Lowry], on the other hand, is viewed as someone who spends his whole life partying. He hates that image, but in a way, he was responsible for creating it, even though it’s not him.”

So, where does that leave McIlroy? Harrington asked me to name the players, other than Tiger Woods, who had won more than four Majors in recent decades. There has been only one: Phil Mickelson, with six. “And Phil happens to be a truly remarkable player,” said the Dubliner.

“It could be that we may have overestimated Rory’s potential at the outset, though to be honest, I don’t believe so. And does it mean that we should now place Jon Rahm on a different level from his contemporaries? My own experience is that time, as in natural attrition, will eventually take care of these issues.

“Evidence right across the board points to a two-year cycle where a player is going to be at his peak. And when it goes, re-discovering that peak is the most difficult challenge of all. Look at DJ [Dustin Johnson]. When he hit that run, we thought nobody would ever come close to him, especially when he set an aggregate record for the November Masters in 2020.”

In a way, it was naive of me to expect a different analysis from Harrington than the one he has repeatedly propounded since McIlroy’s Major block became a problem a few years ago. It is hard to imagine any Major winner, with the possible exception of Woods, who has given more thought to the physical and mental challenge involved in the process.

​Only a few years ago, there was the feeling that the game at the highest level was being turned on its head by Bryson DeChambeau and his prodigious ball-striking. We were speculating as to how the great venues would need to be adjusted to accommodate his power. With successive 74s, he comfortably missed the cut at Augusta last weekend.

So, what is McIlroy to do? “We’re back to the same old story,” replied Harrington. “He’s got to be patient and trust his natural instincts. What else can he do? The pressure of winning that elusive Masters is not going to go away. But it is certain to ease if he goes out and wins another Major, any Major. Who knows, the return to Hoylake in July could provide the answer.

“The memories from 2014; the very nature of the place could change his thinking. And when the mood grabs you, you simply let it happen.”

A notoriously demanding game is unlikely to promise anything more.