HARRINGTON ON WHY OPEN DOOR HAS NOT SHUT FOR HIM YET
SAYS PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON
Even now I can’t resist holding the Claret Jug every now and then Strolling down the 18th and enjoying the adulation — that’s definitely the way to do it
AFEW weeks ago, Pádraig Harrington walked into the clubhouse at Royal Birkdale for the first time since he left the premises cradling the Claret Jug in 2008, following the finest of his three major championship victories.
A picture from that blessed day sits next to one of the Queen on a wall near the front entrance and quickly brought a smile to his face. ‘That’s not bad company to keep, is it?’ he said, chuckling.
Nine years might have passed but he hardly looks a day older. ‘I feel very fortunate to have good genes and a full head of hair,’ said the 45-year-old.
Harrington was the defending champion but kept hold of the trophy in a manner far removed from his success at Carnoustie in 2007, where he went into the Barry Burn twice at the 18th, but still prevailed in a play-off against Sergio Garcia.
This time he played one of the great back nines in Open history, including the shot of a lifetime to set up an eagle three at the 17th that turned the 18th hole into a glorious 450 yard coronation. ‘I wanted the glory and the clarity of walking down the last and being able to enjoy it, and a lot of that had to do with what happened the previous year,’ he recalled.
‘When you’re 15 years of age you dream of winning The Open in that fashion. You don’t dream of winning it by hitting two shots in the burn and running up a double bogey, even if I did get my redemption in the play-off.
‘This one ticked all the boxes — coming home in 31 shots, hitting one of the blows of my career at the 17th and then strolling down the last enjoying all the adulation.
‘That’s definitely the way to do it.’
During a company day for his long-time club sponsor, Wilson, Harrington invited along as he relived the final holes of his greatest day.
At the 17th he must have stood in the middle of the fairway for 40 minutes, as he recalled in riveting detail every moment as if it had only just happened.
There were also a few attempts to recreate his magical blow from 272 yards with a five wood, that finished just five feet from the hole and turned a useful two shot lead into an unassailable four strokes.
‘The shot looks an awful lot tighter now than I remember,’ he said. ‘I guess that just shows how confident I was feeling at the time.
‘Even though you can see all the potential for trouble now — and I had a two shot lead — it never occurred to me to lay up.
‘It was a gutsy decision but I was feeling good and the five wood was my favourite club at the time, my go-to weapon of choice.
‘I was thinking about my coach Bob Torrance’s words, that when you’re playing well it’s easier to hit a great shot than fiddle about.
‘My thinking was that if I hit one more great shot I’ve won The Open, but if I laid up I still had to finish the job. I had 235 yards to carry a bunker and I was pleased that my ball had finished on a downslope, because it meant I could hit a low bullet — No-one hit a five wood 272 yards back in those days.’
Further evidence of how great a shot it was comes when he tries it again.
‘I’m glad I didn’t do that last time,’ he says, as one attempt sails into lost ball country on the left.
‘The other thing I remember is my caddy saying “good shot” almost as soon as the ball left the club. He never did that when the ball was still in the air, he always wanted to see where it finished before committing himself. But he did then. He just knew.’ It was not the only great shot in Birkdale’s rich history that Harrington tried to recreate.
On the previous hole there is a plaque by the side of the fairway commemorating a stupendous blow Arnold Palmer pulled off on his way to victory in 1961.
‘He must have been some player,’ said Harrington, smiling, when his own effort came up short of the green.
Is he disappointed he doesn’t have a plaque himself on the 17th?
‘I’m a firm believer there should only be one plaque on a golf course,’ he said. ‘And there’s no shame when Arnold Palmer gets there before you.’ Back in the sanctuary of the clubhouse, Harrington recalls some other details of that win, including the wrist injury that threatened his participation and meant he competed without a practice round.
‘The weather was horrible on the first morning and it was a real struggle, but the key for me was what happened on the sixth,’ he said. ‘I’d driven the ball into a bad lie and I knew the recovery shot was going to test my wrist, but I didn’t feel it at all. I felt great after that.
‘It was amazing being out on the course just now and reliving it all. How quickly the time goes by as you go about your business as a pro golfer.’
With his victory, Harrington became the first European since James Braid in 1906 to retain the trophy. Yet he has only been in contention once since then, at St Andrews two years ago, when he led briefly on the final day before falling away to finish tied 20th.
Why such struggles for an
acknowledged master of the links? ‘I didn’t realise my recent record was so bad until you mentioned it, and you were being very polite in saying that it wasn’t great,’ said Harrington.
‘It shows how you block out the bad times and fill your head with good memories. I guess your own raised expectations and everyone else’s once you’ve won The Open twice comes into it.
‘I still haven’t given up hope of winning it again, though I accept I’ve now reached the stage where you’re thinking about your legacy and you have to embrace that side of things. And if it turns out to be three majors, that’s not bad, is it?
‘Very few players have won three, and there won’t be that many more in the future either.’
With that, he looks lovingly at the replica Claret Jug he has brought along with him. ‘Even now I can’t resist holding it every now and again,’ he said.
Pádraig Harrington has been a staff player for Wilson Golf Clubs for 20 years.