My brother Hugh and I have been playing a lot of golf during his current business trip. Coincidentally, Padraig Harrington, an Irishman like us (we Irish are good Americans even though we relish being Irish) wins the PGA Championship, so we decide it’s time to celebrate.

It turns out John Silveira, the Portagee senior editor for BHM, is visiting at my house and even cooking a lamb curry for supper. Well, Padraig Harrington is the cousin of Dan Harrington, who played John Silveira for the chess championship of Suffolk University, where John and I went to school together and initially met.

Dan went on to become a chess master, then the 1995 Hold ‘Em main event champion in the World Series of Poker. John became senior editor for BHM.

Coincidentally, John and my son, Jake, happen to be playing chess when I discover Padraig Harrington has just won the PGA Championship.

Golf, chess, the Harringtons, and us. It’s a small world.