Padraig Harrington became the first European in over a century to retain The Open title with a nerveless display down the stretch at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.
The Irishman, who came from six shots back to win at Carnoustie last year, played his final four holes in three-under as he overturned Greg Norman’s two-shot overnight lead and left the rest of the field trailing with a final round 69.
That left him with a three-over total of 283 for four rounds played in some of the toughest conditions in Open history, four shots clear of Ian Poulter, who briefly shared the lead on the back nine.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Norman’s dream of becoming the oldest winner of a major had died long before Harrington effectively clinched victory by drilling his five-wood second on the 572-yard 17th to within six feet of the pin for a majestic eagle.
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 banish memories of his double bogey at the 72nd hole at Carnoustie, where he eventually beat Sergio Garcia in a play-off.
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 had a 72.
“It was a good week,” Norman said. “I’m disappointed for sure, but at the end of the day Padraig did a tremendous job and he is a deserving champion.”
The win made Harrington the first British or Irish player to win back-to-back Opens since Scotland’s James Braid in 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 would have forced him to withdraw from any other tournament.
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 Open.
But the extraordinary nature of his challenge 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.
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.
Norman had shown no signs of nerves as he split the fairway with his opening tee-shot. But four bogeys by the sixth handed the initiative to Harrington, who promptly handed it back by dropping shots at seven, eight and nine.
Both men sprayed their drives at the 10th, but fortune favored Harrington, who was able to salvage a par and reclaim the lead after bouncing through the thick stuff onto a grassy path.
The leaders’ travails were allowing 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.
But Harrington did not permit any further celebrations from the Englishman and a birdie at the 15th put him on the verge of history.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that