Golf | Harrington joins British royalty

Harrington joins British royalty

• Golfweek's complete British Open coverage
• Photo slideshow: Round 4 at Birkdale
• Hate to be Rude: Padraig Harrington

By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

SOUTHPORT, England – Turns out Padraig Harrington’s wrist was strong enough to hit all the right shots in the British Open. Better yet, it was strong enough to lift the silver claret jug.

Harrington became the first European in more than a century to win golf’s oldest championship two years in a row, smashing a pair of fairway metals into the par 5s Sunday that allowed him to pull away from mistake-prone Greg Norman and hold off a late charge by Ian Poulter for a four-shot victory.

“I enjoyed the Claret Jug so much I didn’t want to give it back,” Harrington said.

Even in the relentless wind, Harrington managed to shoot 32 on the back nine to close with a 1-under 69.

And to think he gave himself only a 75 percent chance of teeing off on Thursday, and only a 50 percent chance of finishing.

No one bothered asking him the odds of winning.

The 36-year-old Irishman injured his right wrist eight days ago, and it was so sore when he arrived at Royal Birkdale that he stopped practice after nine holes on Tuesday and three swings on Wednesday.

But he was at full strength in gusts up to 40 mph off the Irish Sea, especially down the stretch. He ripped a 3-wood into the wind to about 40 feet on the par-5 15th and got down in two putts for birdie to build a two-shot lead. Then came a 5-wood that bounded up the green on the par-5 17th and settled 4 feet away for eagle.

“There’s no doubt it helped me this week,” Harrington said, referring to his wrist. “It helped take all the pressure, all the stress, all the expectations away from me.”

A year ago, Harrington was an emotional wreck at Carnoustie after making double bogey on the final hole and beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Backed by a four-shot lead after his eagle on the 17th, he was afforded a pleasurable walk along the dunes toward the final green, the only suspense his margin of victory.

He finished at 3-over 283, becoming the first European since James Braid in 1905-06 to win the Open in successive years.

It was his first victory since the British Open last year, and it could not have come at a better time. Harrington moved to the top of Europe’s Ryder Cup standings, and the victory moved him to No. 3 in the world ranking behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

“I’m quite enjoying this,” Harrington said, cradling the Claret Jug. “I don’t think I’ll get down off the stage.”

Norman played a familiar role as the tragic figure.

This had all the elements of a fairy tale like few others in golf. Norman, 53, married tennis great Chris Evert three weeks ago and was on the tail end of his honeymoon when he wound up with a two-shot lead going into the final round and a chance to become the oldest major champion. Instead, it ended like so many other majors when he was in his prime.

The Shark lost his two-shot lead after the third hole. He still had a one-shot lead going to the back nine, but bogeyed three of the next four holes and had to settle for a 77 and a tie for third with Henrik Stenson (71).

“I walk away from here disappointed, but with my head held high, because I hung in there,” Norman said.

Poulter thought he could bring England its first British Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, playing bogey-free over his final 15 holes and making a 15-foot par on the 18th hole to finish off a 69. He went to the practice range in case of a playoff, but put his clubs away when he saw that Harrington made eagle on the 17th hole.

Norman tried to keep alive his hopes with a 35-foot par putt on the 14th, and a shot from a pot bunker that made him spin backward, turning to see the ball land 4 feet away for a birdie. Harrington, however, didn’t back down.

“Padraig played brilliantly today, even though he tried to let it get away in the middle of the round,” Norman said. “He came back and performed brilliantly, and he finished like a true champion.”

Harrington walked off the 18th green with his children, Patrick and Cairan, and sat atop a pot bunker to pose with the jug.

The leaderboard featured a familiar name, missing an “s.”

Chris Wood, a 20-year-old amateur from England, closed in on the lead until three consecutive bogeys on the back nine. He finished with a 72 and tied for fifth at 10-over 290 with Jim Furyk (71).

“It’s been the best week of my life,” Wood said.

Norman felt much the same, except for the final day.

What an amazing week for the Shark – spending his honeymoon in Skibo Castle, showing up at Royal Birkdale to tune up for the Senior British Open and Senior U.S. Open, then finding himself with a two-shot lead going into the final round.

Fans perched themselves atop every sand dune to see if Norman could pull off a victory that would have ranked among the most stunning in golf, from Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters at age 46 to Ben Hogan returning from a life-threatening car crash to win the U.S. Open.

But instead of a fairy-tale ending, he delivered a rerun of opportunties lost in the majors.

“Where does it rank in those? Probably not as high as some of the other ones,” said Norman, who now is 1-7 when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead in majors. “Quite honestly, I’m sure I surprised a lot of people.”

Norman hit into a pot bunker on the first hole and made bogey. He missed the green left on the second hole and made bogey. His tee shot buried in the right rough on the third hole for another bogey. And he had to make an 8-foot to save bogey on the sixth.

Just like that, a two-shot lead over Harrington turned into a two-shot deficit.

Even quicker, momentum swung back in Norman’s favor.

Flawless over the first six holes, Harrington ran off three consecutive bogeys, and Norman stood on the 10th tee of the British Open with a one-shot lead and nine holes to play.

But he pulled his tee shot into the left rough and made bogey, losing the lead for good. The end for Norman was a tee shot into the pot bunker on the 13th, and a third shot that came up woefully short of the green. He scrambled for bogey, but only after Harrington made his first birdie of the round from 12 feet.

The only duel was between Harrington and Poulter, who came on strong in his pink pants and fist pumps.

Poulter had the look of an English winner over the home stretch with steady shots and a birdie on the 16th that fell into the cup sideways on its last turn. What ultimately cost him, however, was failing to birdie the par 5s from good positions, the last one a three-putt par from below the ridge.

“I can only do what I can do,” Poulter said. “And I done my best.”

Final scores with earnings and relation to par from the British Open Championship, played July 17-20 at the par-70, 7,173-yard Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England (Note: a-amateur):

1. Padraig Harrington	$1,498,875	74-68-72-69--283	+	3
2. Ian Poulter	899,325	72-71-75-69--287	+	7
3. Henrik Stenson	509,618	76-72-70-71--289	+	9
3. Greg Norman	509,618	70-70-72-77--289	+	9
5. Jim Furyk	359,730	71-71-77-71--290	+	10
5. a-Chris Wood	0	75-70-73-72--290	+	10
7. David Howell	193,743	76-71-78-67--292	+	12
7. Robert Karlsson	193,743	75-73-75-69--292	+	12
7. Ernie Els	193,743	80-69-74-69--292	+	12
7. Paul Casey	193,743	78-71-73-70--292	+	12
7. Stephen Ames	193,743	73-70-78-71--292	+	12
7. Steve Stricker	193,743	77-71-71-73--292	+	12
7. Robert Allenby	193,743	69-73-76-74--292	+	12
7. Anthony Kim	193,743	72-74-71-75--292	+	12
7. Ben Curtis	193,743	78-69-70-75--292	+	12
16. Adam Scott	106,254	70-74-77-72--293	+	13
16. Justin Leonard	106,254	77-70-73-73--293	+	13
16. KJ Choi	106,254	72-67-75-79--293	+	13
19. Jean Van de Velde	75,485	73-71-80-70--294	+	14
19. Gregory Havret	75,485	71-75-77-71--294	+	14
19. Paul Waring	75,485	73-74-76-71--294	+	14
19. Phil Mickelson	75,485	79-68-76-71--294	+	14
19. Graeme McDowell	75,485	69-73-80-72--294	+	14
19. Fredrik Jacobson	75,485	71-72-79-72--294	+	14
19. a-Thomas Sherreard	0	77-69-76-72--294	+	14
19. Trevor Immelman	75,485	74-74-73-73--294	+	14
19. Anders Hansen	75,485	78-68-74-74--294	+	14
19. Davis Love III	75,485	75-74-70-75--294	+	14
19. Rocco Mediate	75,485	69-73-76-76--294	+	14
19. Alexander Noren	75,485	72-70-75-77--294	+	14
19. Simon Wakefield	75,485	71-74-70-79--294	+	14
32. Richard Green	50,034	76-72-76-71--295	+	15
32. Andres Romero	50,034	77-72-74-72--295	+	15
32. Nick O'Hern	50,034	74-75-74-72--295	+	15
32. Heath Slocum	50,034	73-76-74-72--295	+	15
32. Tom Lehman	50,034	74-73-73-75--295	+	15
32. Todd Hamilton	50,034	74-74-72-75--295	+	15
32. Retief Goosen	50,034	71-75-73-76--295	+	15
39. Thomas Aiken	33,267	75-71-82-68--296	+	16
39. David Duval	33,267	73-69-83-71--296	+	16
39. Ariel Canete	33,267	78-71-76-71--296	+	16
39. Gregory Bourdy	33,267	74-74-75-73--296	+	16
39. Jay Williamson	33,267	73-72-77-74--296	+	16
39. Woody Austin	33,267	76-72-74-74--296	+	16
39. Bart Bryant	33,267	70-78-74-74--296	+	16
39. Mike Weir	33,267	71-76-74-75--296	+	16
39. Camilo Villegas	33,267	76-65-79-76--296	+	16
39. Simon Khan	33,267	77-72-71-76--296	+	16
39. Graeme Storm	33,267	76-70-72-78--296	+	16
39. Ross Fisher	33,267	72-74-71-79--296	+	16
51. Anthony Wall	23,554	71-73-81-72--297	+	17
51. Michael Campbell	23,554	75-74-74-74--297	+	17
51. Stuart Appleby	23,554	72-71-79-75--297	+	17
51. Doug Labelle II	23,554	78-70-74-75--297	+	17
51. Zach Johnson	23,554	73-72-76-76--297	+	17
51. David Frost	23,554	75-73-73-76--297	+	17
51. Sergio Garcia	23,554	72-73-74-78--297	+	17
58. Richard Finch	21,284	75-73-78-72--298	+	18
58. Tom Gillis	21,284	74-72-79-73--298	+	18
58. Kevin Stadler	21,284	72-75-78-73--298	+	18
58. Scott Verplank	21,284	77-67-78-76--298	+	18
58. Colin Montgomerie	21,284	73-75-74-76--298	+	18
58. Peter Hanson	21,284	71-72-78-77--298	+	18
64. Wen Chong Liang	20,385	77-71-77-74--299	+	19
64. Jonathan Lomas	20,385	75-73-76-75--299	+	19
64. Soren Hansen	20,385	75-69-77-78--299	+	19
67. Lee Westwood	19,785	75-74-78-73--300	+	20
67. David Horsey	19,785	74-70-79-77--300	+	20
67. Jean-Baptiste Gonnet	19,785	75-72-73-80--300	+	20
70. Brendan Jones	18,686	74-73-83-71--301	+	21
70. Justin Rose	18,686	74-72-82-73--301	+	21
70. Martin Wiegele	18,686	75-74-78-74--301	+	21
70. John Rollins	18,686	73-75-77-76--301	+	21
70. Craig Parry	18,686	77-70-77-77--301	+	21
70. Jose-Filipe Lima	18,686	73-76-75-77--301	+	21
70. Jeff Overton	18,686	72-75-75-79--301	+	21
70. Pablo Larrazabal	18,686	75-74-73-79--301	+	21
78. Lucas Glover	17,687	78-71-77-76--302	+	22
78. Nick Dougherty	17,687	75-71-79-77--302	+	22
80. Martin Kaymer	17,387	75-72-79-77--303	+	23
81. Phillip Archer	17,187	75-74-78-77--304	+	24
82. Sean O'Hair	16,987	75-73-80-78--306	+	26
83. Chih-Bing Lam	16,787	72-75-83-81--311	+	31
• • •
Missed the cut
84. Paul Lawrie		77-73--150	+	10
84. Stewart Cink		75-75--150	+	10
84. Azuma Yano		74-76--150	+	10
84. James Kingston		77-73--150	+	10
84. Prayad Marksaeng		77-73--150	+	10
84. Scott McCarron		75-75--150	+	10
84. Peter Baker		75-75--150	+	10
84. Alex Cejka		76-74--150	+	10
84. Yoshinobu Tsukada		75-75--150	+	10
84. Peter Appleyard		74-76--150	+	10
84. Pat Perez		82-68--150	+	10
84. Damien McGrane		79-71--150	+	10
84. Tom Watson		74-76--150	+	10
84. Aaron Baddeley		75-75--150	+	10
84. Richard Sterne		78-72--150	+	10
84. Pelle Edberg		76-74--150	+	10
84. Jon Bevan		78-72--150	+	10
84. Joshua Cunliffe		79-71--150	+	10
102. Andrew Tampion		78-73--151	+	11
102. Mark O'Meara		74-77--151	+	11
102. Charles Howell III		76-75--151	+	11
102. Ryuji Imada		77-74--151	+	11
102. Brandt Snedeker		72-79--151	+	11
102. Soren Kjeldsen		81-70--151	+	11
102. Mark Calcavecchia		76-75--151	+	11
102. Geoff Ogilvy		77-74--151	+	11
102. Oliver Wilson		77-74--151	+	11
102. Vijay Singh		80-71--151	+	11
102. Hideto Tanihara		76-75--151	+	11
102. Craig Barlow		79-72--151	+	11
114. David Smail		76-76--152	+	12
114. Michael Letzig		78-74--152	+	12
114. Niclas Fasth		79-73--152	+	12
114. a-Benjamin Hebert		79-73--152	+	12
114. Johan Edfors		78-74--152	+	12
114. Simon Dyson		82-70--152	+	12
114. Matt Kuchar		79-73--152	+	12
114. Hunter Mahan		80-72--152	+	12
114. Paul Goydos		77-75--152	+	12
114. Barry Hume		76-76--152	+	12
124. Tim Clark		76-77--153	+	13
124. Boo Weekley		80-73--153	+	13
124. Gary Boyd		77-76--153	+	13
127. Angel Cabrera		77-77--154	+	14
127. Rory Sabbatini		79-75--154	+	14
127. M. Angel Jimenez		72-82--154	+	14
127. Rod Pampling		77-77--154	+	14
127. Angelo Que		76-78--154	+	14
127. Douglas McGuigan		79-75--154	+	14
127. Jeff Quinney		79-75--154	+	14
134. Ewan Porter		76-79--155	+	15
134. a-Rohan Blizard		78-77--155	+	15
136. Hennie Otto		79-77--156	+	16
136. Scott Strange		84-72--156	+	16
136. JB Holmes		79-77--156	+	16
136. Jamie Elson		78-78--156	+	16
140. Hiroshi Iwata		73-84--157	+	17
140. a-Reinier Saxton		80-77--157	+	17
142. Michio Matsumura		82-76--158	+	18
142. Tim Petrovic		82-76--158	+	18
142. Adam Blyth		81-77--158	+	18
145. Steve Webster		79-80--159	+	19
145. Philip Walton		77-82--159	+	19
145. Bradley Lamb		85-74--159	+	19
148. Darren Fichardt		82-78--160	+	20
148. Jerry Kelly		83-77--160	+	20
150. Shintaro Kai		80-81--161	+	21
151. Danny Chia		76-87--163	+	23
152. Peter Fowler		82-82--164	+	24
153. John Daly		80-89--169	+	29
153. Jamie Howarth		85-84--169	+	29
WD. Sandy Lyle
WD. Rich Beem

Posted: 7/20/2008

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