Harrington Does a Double Take
Irishman Wins Second-Straight British Open

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 21, 2008

SOUTHPORT, England, July 20 -- The prospect of a Greg Norman conquest of the 137th British Open as the oldest major champion ended on the unforgiving back nine of the windswept links of Royal Birkdale on Sunday. Instead, Padraig Harrington made his own mark in the annals of the game on a blustery afternoon, becoming the first European player since 1906 to defend his title and claim the Claret Jug for a second straight year.

Tied with third-round leader Norman with six holes to play, Harrington had wondered Wednesday if he could even play this week with a sore right wrist injured in a workout at home in Dublin last Saturday. Still, he was healthy enough this day to craft two late birdies and one last magnificent eagle at the 572-yard 17th hole to pull away from his playing partner and earn his own applause as he took his triumphant march up the 18th fairway with Norman by his side.

"I thanked him for his company; he's a super guy," Harrington said. "I did say to him coming down 18 that I was sorry it wasn't his story that was going to be told this evening. I did feel that, but I wanted to win myself. But it would have been a fantastic story."

A year ago, Harrington, 36, came from six shots behind after 54 holes to get into a playoff he won at Carnoustie against Sergio García, despite a double bogey on his 72nd hole. There was no such drama this time, as Harrington walked to the 18th tee with a six-shot lead over Norman, and four shots clear of clubhouse leader Ian Poulter of England, the runner-up.

"The way he finished," Norman said later, "a true champion."

Harrington, who earned $1.51 million and moved up to No. 3 in the world rankings, survived three straight bogeys on the final three holes of his front nine, the last blemishes on his round of 1-under-par 69. His 72-hole total of 3-over 283 provided a four-shot victory over Poulter, who posted a 69 -- 287. Harrington played his final six holes in 4 under and nearly had one last 12-foot birdie go in the hole at No. 18. But at that point, it hardly mattered.

Norman looked every bit his 53 years as he walked off the course after a 77 that tied him for third with Sweden's Henrik Stenson (71) at 9-over 289. He had taken a two-shot lead to the first tee, where both he and Harrington were accorded rousing receptions as they prepared to hit their opening shots. Norman then bogeyed his first three holes, and four of the first six. In the end, he was mostly done in by his inability to match Harrington's pure shot-making down the stretch when he had difficulty finding the fairway or making critical putts.

Norman had only one birdie on this day of 30-35 mph winds, down slightly from 50 mph gusts on Saturday. It was still a daunting challenge to the 83 men in the tournament and only six players scored in the 60s. Still, the Australian with two major titles, both in this event, said he was proud of the way he played in one of the wildest weather Opens in recent memory, even if he has now held the 54-hole lead eight times in majors, and only won once.

"I can walk away from here being disappointed," Norman said. "But I can walk away from here with my head held high because I hung in there. Where does it rank [among his toughest losses]? Probably not as high as some of the other ones. Quite honestly, I'm sure I surprised a lot of people. What did Padraig shoot, 69 today? I would have had to shoot 71, and it would have been a tough 71 for me."

The way Harrington was playing down the stretch, even the absent Tiger Woods might have had a tough time keeping up.

Harrington said he never allowed himself to dwell on those three straight bogeys, and also got a huge lift when he made a critical four-foot putt to save a par at the 408-yard No. 10 after misjudging the line and the wind on his first birdie putt from 15 feet.

"Putts like that, even though they're three or four feet, it's important for your own confidence that you're dropping those putts," he said. "You feel like things are going for you in that sort of situation."

Things really started to get going for Harrington at the 499-yard 13th hole. Ahead by a shot after Norman had lipped out an eight-foot putt for a bogey at the 12th, Harrington hit a 3-iron off the 13th tee into the fairway and left himself 230 yards to the flapping flag. He crushed a second shot 5-iron to within 15 feet, and made the birdie putt for a two-shot swing and three stroke lead on his playing partner, the only man he said he was concerned about as he played the back nine.

At the 544-yard 15th, a drive in the fairway and a 3-wood on the green left Harrington a 40-foot eagle attempt. He two-putted from there for birdie, matched by Norman when he hit a fine bunker shot to four feet and sank the putt for his only birdie of the round.

But the true denouement came at the downwind 17th, a birdie hole all week. Harrington hit a 5-wood, his favorite club in his bag, off the tee. Then he used it again on a second shot from 250 yards out in the fairway. His caddie, Ronan Flood, told him he had a two-shot lead over Poulter at that point and wondered if he might want to lay up and play safe.

"I knew I could make birdie if I hit 5-wood," Harrington said. "I was anxious that Greg was going to make eagle going down there, and if I laid up and I make par, all of a sudden I've got a one-shot lead. I was more worried about giving Greg a great chance to get within one, and one shot is not comfortable in any way shape or form going down 18."

Harrington had the perfect lie with the ball slightly below his feet to keep his shot low, "and once I hit it, it was perfect," he said. "It's one of the few times I've ever heard my caddie say 'good shot' to me before the ball is finished. It was a real bonus to finish three feet away. I would have been quite happy with it on the green and take my chances. It helped me enjoy the last hole."

And yet, as recently as Wednesday, Harrington was concerned enough about his wrist to say very publicly that he thought it was "50-50" that he'd actually be able to play all 72 holes in defense of his title. But Harrington had a talk that night with his Charlottesville-based psychologist, Bob Rotella, about how to get through the opening round the next day.

"He says, 'Look, pain is there, but you can play through that,' " Harrington said. "Wednesday evening, I was comfortable I could give it a go. I was delighted through the course of the week that I didn't have any more problems, just a couple of twinges warming up Thursday morning.

"It was a great distraction for me. It pushed everything about coming back to defend to the side. It took a lot of pressure off me, a lot of stress. The other plus was I only played nine holes of practice. The fact I didn't play three practice rounds like normal was a big bonus. I was very fresh going into the weekend, and [the last] 36 holes was a real battle. The wrist injury was a real saver for me, really."

On Sunday, when virtually every man in the field sported sweaters and several layers to ward off the chilly wind blowing in off the Irish Sea, Harrington showed up at the first tee wearing a short-sleeve shirt and never did cover up. He admitted he felt a tad chilly.

"I definitely needed to put a sweater on. It was cold at times, but you know you never change anything when it's working okay. I was going to stick with what I had. It was going nicely, and that was the way it was."