Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño dipped his toe in political waters at last week's Vivendi Trophy by sending a not so subtle message to the Spanish Prime Minister.

Recent Daily Mail cartoon on Harrington's aversion to the BMW Championship at Wentworth,Can you imagine Padraig Harrington doing the same thing?

Apart from the "wheelbarrow" joke on the FedExCup cash that earned him an earful from elements of the British press, Harrington is far to smart to say anything controversial. 

But that didn't stop Irish radio station Today FM and comedian/impressionist Mario Rosenstock using "Harrington" to explain the Lisbon Treaty in golfing terms on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show.

Apparently, the "interview" resulted in thousands of texts and emails from listeners thanking the station for simplifying the referendum debate.

Harrington’s alter ego teed up with… “Europe is basically like a golfer and Ireland is a caddy”. He then went on to say: “Now we all know that by being caddy we’re in the happy position of receiving a percentage of the golfer’s earnings, which is very nice.

“The downside is that we have to listen to everything the golfer says, even if he’s really boring, like Henrik Stenson,” he added. Dempsey then questioned him about Ireland’s capacity to make decisions within Europe and how the treaty will affect that. “Eh, let’s say we have a really easy shot – 168 yards, par 3, big green, no wind – the golfer (or Europe) will probably know which shot to play, so will probably not need to ask the caddy.

“Now, on more important shots, the golfer usually asks the caddy’s advice, but people fear that if we vote yes, then the golfer can just take any club out of the bag, put it anywhere, which leaves the caddy wandering around the woods, or, worse, in the lake – like me in Hazeltine.

“If we vote yes, we could end up in more bunkers. If we vote no, Europe may look for another caddy. This means we could become a caddy, wandering around a golf course, without a golfer. It’s only a matter of time, before we’d be asked to leave the golf course!”