Padraig Harrington became the first European in over a century to retain the Open Championship title with a gutsy final round that was capped by a majestic eagle on the 17th hole at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.
The Irishman, who came from six shots back to win at Carnoustie last year, overturned Greg Norman’s two-shot overnight lead and left the rest of the field trailing with a one-under-par 69 that left him with a total of 283 for four rounds played in some of the toughest conditions in Open history.
Ian Poulter matched Harrington’s final round score but had to settle for second place, four shots back, while Norman’s dream of becoming the oldest winner of a Major had died long before Harrington drilled his five-wood second on the 572-yard 17th to within six feet of the pin.
By the time he had reached the 18th tee, the Dubliner’s name had already been engraved for a second time on the Old Claret Jug, and a confident par on the final hole allowed him to finish in style.
Norman’s disappointing final round of 77 meant he had to settle for a share of third place with Henrik Stenson (71), a shot ahead of American Jim Furyk (71) and 20-year-old English amateur Chris Wood, who shot a 72.
The win made Harrington the first British or Irish player to win back-to-back Opens since Scotland’s James Braid’s victories in 1905 and 1906.
It also ensured he will be in Europe’s Ryder Cup team in September and represented a remarkable end to a week that had begun with the Irishman complaining of a wrist injury that restricted his pre-tournament practice to nine holes on Tuesday and some chipping and putting.
Had it been any other tournament, he said, he would have withdrawn.
For Norman, it was the seventh time in his career that he had led a Major tournament at the start of the final round but failed to win, the only exception being when he won the first of his two Open titles in 1986.
That unwanted record would have been erased from the collective memory if he had managed to become the oldest winner of the Major.
But the extraordinary nature of his challenge here may mean this particular Sunday will be easier to bear for a 53-year-old for whom the Open was the final leg of his honeymoon following his recent marriage to tennis legend Chris Evert, and had originally been scheduled as a warm-up for next week’s Seniors Open.
Harrington had turned the two-shot overnight deficit into a two-shot lead by the sixth hole as Norman struggled to reproduce his form of the opening three rounds.
But the Irishman then hit the buffers himself and three straight bogeys allowed Norman to reach the turn one stroke in front.
By that stage, KJ Choi’s dream of becoming the first Asian to win a Major had been critically compromised by a front nine of 40, and the South Korean eventually finished tied for 16th after a 79.
Norman’s opening holes had evoked memories of the 1996 US Masters, where he started the day six shots clear of the field and slumped to a 78 that left him five shots behind Nick Faldo.
There were no signs of nerves as the Australian split the fairway with his opening tee-shot.
But he paid the price for depositing his second in a greenside bunker from the middle of the fairway, while Harrington salvaged a four by leaving a chip inches from the pin.
Wayward drives led to dropped shots at the second and third to hand Harrington the outright lead and the Irishman turned the screw with a textbook par on the 499-yard par four, the toughest hole on the course by some distance.
Norman, meanwhile, was visiting the rough on both sides of the fairway before holing an eight-footer to avoid a double bogey.
The first chink in Harrington’s armour came when he veered to the left of the green at the short seventh and was unable to get up and down.
Norman also missed the green but holed an eight-footer for par to cut the lead back to one shot. Two more bogeys followed and suddenly it was Harrington feeling the pressure.
Both men sprayed their drives at the tenth but fortune favoured Harrington, who was able to salvage a par and reclaim the lead after bouncing through the thick stuff on to a grassy path.
The leaders’ travails allowed Poulter, five groups ahead of the leaders, to edge steadily up the leaderboard and the Englishman moved into the joint lead by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th to move to one under for the day.
Within seconds, Norman’s 12-footer for par had lipped out at the short 12th to leave him trailing by a shot.
With Poulter three-putting for par on the 17th, the momentum swung back to Harrington when he holed out from 12 feet for a three on the 13th, while Norman slipped further back after a visit to a fairway bunker.
Poulter punched the air with relief when he holed a 12-footer to par the last and set a clubhouse target of seven over par.
But Harrington would not permit any further celebrations from the Englishman. Two solid strikes and two solid putts at the long 15th gave him a two-stroke cushion with three to play and Harrington sealed his second Major in style. — AFP
