Tiger Who?
Ed Jenner
Posted on: 24 July 2008 - 10:53
Golf
Padraig Harrington is a man on mission. His defence of the Open Championship will certainly cement his place amongst the legends of the game and he now joins an elite list of players who have retained a major title.
The tournament was defined by Mother Nature’s ferocity but that didn’t seem to deter Harrington as he marched on to a 4 shot victory. Sunday promised to be as intense an affair as last years final round at Carnoustie, but the howling winds at Southport seemed only to spur Harrington on. It seemed as if the Irishman was in the eye of the storm, calmly navigating himself round the course while others collapsed and succumbed to the elements.
Harrington’s final round 69 was to put it simply-masterful. In a tournament seemingly mourning the absence of the world’s number one, Harrington stepped up to the plate and his triumph was every bit as good as what Tiger had achieved in 2005 and 2006.
The bookies had priced Harrington at 80-1 to win this years championship at Royal Birkdale and he certainly silenced his critics who suggested he would never be able to repeat his feat at Carnoustie.
Harrington added after securing his 2nd Open title in 2 years that he wasn’t fazed by this at all, “I was confident I would win another major and I never put it as an isolated incident”.
The fact that he was potentially not even going to be able to take part due to a wrist injury makes this victory even more spectacular-the stuff of legend! It clearly highlights the Irishman’s mental toughness to be able to compete at the highest level and in such ferocious conditions. But he was keen to set the record straight with regards to his injury by maintaining that it helped him to deflect attention away from the pressures of defending his title.
His mental strength and confidence was evident at the 17th when, protecting a 1 shot lead, he chose to hit a 5 wood for his second shot from 250 yards when most players would have been happy to lay up short and take par or birdie at best. The decision clearly paid off and the shot of the tournament resulted in an eagle allowing Harrington to stride up the last knowing he had already won the Championship, thus dispelling memories of his final hole at last years tournament when he almost handed the Claret Jug to a very accepting Spaniard.
In an Open dominated by one man’s absence, Harrington certainly showed the golfing world that he is ready to tame the Tiger!