Scott Harrington sees 'a lot of parallels' between playing piano and golf

Scott Harrington was in kindergarten when he started playing the piano. Either the keyboards or the band, it was his choice – his parents just wanted him and his brother Adam to broaden their horizons and get involved in music of some kind.

So, for the next 11 years, Harrington would get up early and practice the piano for an hour or so before he went to school. That way, he’d still be free to head to the golf course or the gym when the final bell sounded each afternoon.

“It's something for sure I'd love my future kids to do,” Harrington says. “I think it teaches you so much, especially at such a young age, about patience and working towards a goal. I mean, it would take months to perfect a piece.”

Harrington and his brother Adam took piano lessons from one of the best teachers in Oregon, the kind of instructor who nurtured students who went to Julliard. He remembers performing holiday concerts each year at a local department store, playing duets and four-handed piano pieces.

“That was probably the coolest memory I have from doing it, because that was really fun,” Harrington says. “Everybody was packed in this mall, and people stop, and everybody would watch a bunch of kids who are playing this insanely good Christmas music.”

Harrington and his brother competed, too, playing Beethoven and Bach and Chopin with hundreds of other aspiring pianists.

“I was always relieved when the competitions were over,” Harrington recalls. “I'd be so nervous for those things, but I would always do well. But I couldn't quite hang with the people who are now doing it for a living. Those kids had talent and work ethic. ... They would practice five, six hours a day.

“It's kind of the way I was with golf. That was their passion.”

Of course, those piano prodigies couldn’t hang with Harrington on the golf course. The PGA TOUR rookie, who earned a scholarship to Northwestern, is ranked 94th in the FedExCup and playing in THE NORTHERN TRUST this week.

Harrington sees the hard work and patience needed to learn a piece of music as similar to the discipline and dedication required to play golf at the highest level. He was never the kind of musician who could sit down and just jam. He was analytical, memorizing the piece and then performing it, just as he did while perfecting shots on the golf course.

“No question,” Harrington said. “We're so rarely truly happy out here. Even when we play well, you know you can do better. There's always something you want to improve on, and you have to be so patient. And when you go through a down stretch out here, maybe you're not playing very well, and you kind of have to dig it out the dirt a little bit and just grind your way out. There's no other way to do it.

“And piano, I think, man it is frustrating. When you're first learning a piece, I mean, you are starting at nothing, and just gradually improving week by week on a piece and grinding it to perfection. Because in piano, you truly are working towards perfection, where you don't screw anything up. And there are so many little intricacies of pieces that there's no doubt in my mind that it taught me a lot. ...

“There's no question. You can't really be halfway in on the keyboard, on piano, and kind of accomplish your goal. ... It would help in a number of things, whether it's in school or anything, any work of life that you go into. But yeah, golf for sure. There's a lot of parallels.”

Harrington got the OK from his parents, who both played golf collegiately, to step back from the piano after his junior year in high school as the recruiting process ramped up. There were tournaments to play and college visits to take, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to give music the attention his teacher required.

“I was kind of relieved when I stopped, because I had a lot on my plate and things in golf was progressing really well, and I could put more time into that,” Harrington recalls. “But I have nothing but good memories.”

Harrington doesn’t have a piano in his home in Scottsdale. But when he visits his parents in Oregon, he’ll occasionally sit down at theirs, although the 39-year-old says it can be frustrating because his skills have deteriorated. Maybe someday, though, he’ll have time to devote to music again.

“There’s so much to learn from playing the piano in terms of responsibility and hard work and being patient and just seeing something through to fruition,” Harrington says. “... Looking back, it's something I'm really glad I did, an experience that I'll certainly cherish.