Harrington joins ranks of legends at the Open

THE first golfer from this side of the Atlantic to successfully defend the Open championship since James Braid last pulled off the feat at Muirfield in 1906, Padraig Harrington was acclaimed by history yesterday as Ireland's greatest ever golfer.

Harrington overcame the inconvenience of a wrist injury to thwart fellow Ryder Cup player Ian Poulter, who was runner-up, and veteran Greig Norman in a riveting staging of the oldest major at Royal Birkdale. A championship which began in shadow ended in sunshine as the Dubliner signed for 69 and 283, three over par, to win by four strokes from Poulter and six from Henrik Stenson and Norman.

In retrospect, Harrington deemed the wrist injury which marred his preparations for the event as a good thing rather than bad since it helped to lower expectations and somehow allow him to sneak under the radar. "It's brilliant to come back and defend," he said. "I convinced myself I could win, stayed focused and managed to get the job done."

There was an air of absolute reliability about the Dubliner when he turned for home on a links where, before a ball was struck, he'd assessed his chances of completing 72 holes as no better than 50-50. The old saw about beware the injured golfer was surely never more apt than at this windswept tournament.

After wobbling over the closing holes on the front nine when three consecutive bogeys set him back, Harrington was flawless on the way home. The first European to claim a second major title since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999, the Irishman kept his head when all around him were losing their's.

In command of all aspects of his game over the closing stretch, Harrington sealed the victory by firing a magnificently aggressive five wood to three feet above the cup on the 17th green. Under intense pressure, this was the shot of the championship and covered the leader in a cloak of invulnerability on the 72nd hole. "Hats off to Padraig," said Poulter, "that shot was quite awesome."

After following Open legends of the calibre of Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson and Tiger Woods into the elite band of 16 champions who have retained the Claret Jug, Harrington was rewarded with a cheque for £750,000 and a spot in Europe's Ryder Cup side.

While Nick Faldo had urged the Irishman to get the finger out at the Association of Golf Writers dinner here before the championship, the captain could only be thrilled with the immediacy of Harrington's response and the fact Poulter and Henrik Stenson, 71 for 289, also finished in the top three.

Not that Harrington's seasoned coach, Bob Torrance, who was in tears beside the 18th green last night, was the least surprised by his prodigy's epic return to form. "I always knew Padraig was capable of winning another Open as long as his wrist held out," observed the Scot. "He's been swinging the club as well as ever and is such a great champion – his desire has never waned since Carnoustie.

"I said to him you've nothing to prove. And he didn't. He played brilliantly and his fairway wood on the 17th was unbelievable. He's always been a strong finisher and is the best pupil I've ever had."

Always the most egalitarian staging of the four majors, there were opportunities for almost everyone to get their hands on the Claret Jug before Harrington engaged top gear and swept the rest aside. As trousers were ruffled, caps carried aloft and flotsam and jetsam flew around the links, age eventually caught up with Norman, 77 for 289, and only Poulter emerged as a contender with the concentration to challenge the champion.

Watched by 40,000 spectators – more than 201,000 braved the elements during an extraordinary week – Poulter inspired one of the loudest roars of the day when he holed an 18 foot putt for birdie on the 16th green to briefly seize the lead. It was at that moment of exhilaration when the tournament sprung to life.

It was his third birdie in eight holes and confirmed the Englishman's fuel-injected approach to chasing a championship in which he'd never previously finished higher than 11th.

Almost as soon as Poulter reached the summit of the leaderboard, though, the victor at Carnoustie responded with a 12 foot putt for birdie on the 13th to regain the advantage. A final day which was previously notable mostly for struggle, suddenly reached a new peak of drama and skill.

Fifteen years since he won the Open and a dozen seasons since his career in the majors appeared to self-combust at Augusta, Norman started the last round of a major in the final pairing for the first time since the 1996 Masters.

Since it would only have been human to recall the seven previous occasions he led majors after 54 holes and remember he'd won just one of them, the Australian's disappointments – the 1986 and 1996 Masters, the 1986 and 1995 US Opens and the 1986 and 1993 US PGAs – turned out to be a portent for more frustration. Norman's three successive bogeys at the start of the round set the veteran back on his heels. If par golf was sufficient to secure Harrington the lead over the opening six holes, a succession of bogeys at the close of the outward half raised
a brief question mark against his command of events.

Usually a confident and reliable putter, the Irishman missed from eight feet on the short seventh after pulling his tee shot wide of the green. He also tugged a three footer for par a fraction wide on the eighth green. And, on the ninth, he was twice immersed in rough. These errors in high winds meant Harrington was a stroke adrift with nine to play. It was Norman's turn to find rough off the tenth tee and pull his second shy of the green before carding 5. The tenth is easily the most exposed putting surface on the links and Harrington's ball oscillated here before he steadied the ship with a two putt par.

At this stage of the afternoon, it was not so much a one-horse race as a cavalry charge; no fewer than 10 players stood within four shots of the lead, though most of the runners discovered the paradox that standing still was good enough to make progress in such daunting conditions.

When Norman dropped out of the lead after his par putt horse-shoed out of the cup on the 12th, another bogey on the 13th ended the Australian's dream. This left Harrington and Poulter as the main men duelling for glory. Poulter, driven on by the galleries, duly set the mark of 287 in the clubhouse thanks to a 15 foot putt on the last for 69. It was then Harrington turned on the after-burners and soared like a champion.

Although Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, described conditions as "too breezy for comfort", the intervention of Mother Nature was the pivotal influence on the outcome of the championship. With winds again gusting up to 40mph, the R&A retained the forward tees introduced on Saturday and added another on the tenth.

Consequently, the golf course was quite playable and Chris Wood, a
20-year-old from the Long Ashton club in Bristol, turned in the best performance by an amateur golfer in a major since Justin Rose was fourth here ten years ago. After his sister had sent him a text message asking "Are you at that golf thingy?", the player admitted he was never in any danger of getting carried away.

The English internationalist – he might have been a professional footballer but for a knee injury – signed for 72 and 289, to claim a share of fifth and the silver medal for leading amateur. "There was no pressure on me," he grinned. "I was just looking at leaderboards and enjoying it."

Robert Karlsson, 69, David Howell, who signed for 67 in spite of three three-putts, Ernie Els, 69, and Paul Casey, 70, also clambered into a share of seventh on 12 over par thanks to solid finishes. Had he not opened with 80 on Thursday, heaven knows what the big South African might have accomplished in Southport.

"On the first day, I played myself out of the championship, going nine over for nine holes," he recalled. "How do you come back from that ? Well, I gave it my best shot and it was just a battle to get into the top ten."

Although he ended up as sub-plot rather than the main arc of the story, for four days Norman put a spring in the step of middle-aged men everywhere. Over most of the 72 holes, Norman's performance at the age of 53 in finishing third was so compelling – he received a standing ovation from the galleries surrounding the 18th green – that his vital contribution was only overshadowed by the glimpses of greatness from Harrington.