British Open win keeps Harrington's fire stoked
It was three weeks after the British Open when Padraig Harrington resurfaced from a celebratory sabbatical to play the World Golf Championships at Firestone.
Harrington stepped to the first tee, ready to hear the words he'd dreamed about. The announcer made the introduction.
"Padraig Harrington, Ireland," is all he said.
"I looked at my caddie and started laughing," Harrington said. "You win the Open Championship, you can't wait to be announced as the Open champion."
Harrington had spent 24 hours before his tee time bracing for the moment, only to be disappointed by the pedestrian reference.
"I was actually preparing myself that I would not get emotional when they called me the Open champion because I wanted to hit my tee shot and not get distracted," he said.
That was a rare and mild disappointment in the aftermath of his playoff victory over Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie, the win that gave him his first major and snapped an eight-year European drought. As far as memorable moments since, "there hasn't been a worst," Harrington said.
Few have enjoyed being a major champion as much as Harrington. He slept with the Claret Jug at the foot of his bed the night after winning, periodically waking up to see whether it was really there. He spent so much time with it in the weeks after Carnoustie that he needed to take a break.
"When it was at home, I just kept it on the breakfast table, actually," he said. "And to come down to breakfast and see it sitting there as you're having your tea and toast is very pleasing."
Harrington purchased 1,000 Carnoustie flags to be able to fulfill any souvenir requests, taking advice from other first-time winners who were unprepared for the fallout.
But what makes Harrington so appreciative of its presence is his understanding of how close he came to not winning it. Had he not recovered in time to avoid a choke of Jean Van de Velde proportions on the final hole, or if Garcia hadn't lipped out his final putt in regulation, the silver jug would be on someone else's breakfast table.
"The difference between me winning and losing is only this, that and the other -- it's only a hair's breadth," Harrington said. "You do enjoy it, but you can't walk away and think that's the end-all and be-all, that I'm never going to lose an event again. It's never going to happen, and I'm going to mess up or do something spectacular to lose. But if I'm in the right place at the right time, I might do something spectacular to win or somebody else will mess up and let me win."
Harrington only recently embraced the idea that he is a major-caliber player. Despite numerous times being in contention, he understood the rare opportunity he had on Sunday at the British Open. He admitted afterward that losing might have crippled his confidence.
"I don't think I'm going to have that many chances to win majors, so you don't want to give one up at all," he said. "For me to win a major, I have to believe it. And it's taken me a long time to believe that I could, and maybe the last 18 months has been that sort of period. You know, it's been nice to keep moving in that direction. Hopefully I can keep improving as a player. I definitely have things to work on. There's plenty of aspects of my game I can improve, and I'm quite comfortable that I can become a better player from this moment on."
Ironically, Harrington's confidence took a turn after letting another major chance slip away. He only needed to par his way in at Winged Foot in the 2006 U.S. Open, but instead he made three closing bogeys to finish fifth.
"I had three pars to win the U.S. Open," he said. "Sounds very easy. But I walked away from that exceptionally confident because of how comfortable I felt in that position. OK, I knew I made three bogeys. You can think, looking from the outside, that was a really poor finish. In terms of results, it was a poor finish. But I know how I felt in my head and I know how I was going about things. And I knew from there, especially that event, that I could definitely win a major. So by losing that one, I knew I could win another."
That confidence carried him through at Carnoustie, even when he was making a hash of the 72nd hole before stoically getting up-and-down over the Barry Burn to save a critical double bogey.
"You just have to be in there, hang around there, and wait and see," he said. "Sometimes you'll be forced to hit the shots, and other times you can play them safely through the back nine. But it's all about being there. And things went my way at the Open at the very end, but I did play the golf to get in that position. When I got my break, I played my golf again in the playoff. That's the most important thing, that when you get the opportunity, you'll take it."
Winning the British Open was the fulfillment of a career goal, but not the end of Harrington's career goals.
"I would not enjoy playing golf if I was resting on my laurels of the Open Championship," he said.
Instead of feeling satisfied, Harrington feels energized heading into a fresh season of majors.
"The most interesting thing is I've reset myself back to maybe my early years on tour, where I want to work harder and harder and harder," he said. "And I've actually gone back to being a bit obsessive about the fact that I'm getting out there and working and practicing and all that sort of stuff. It's like I've got to go through something all over again. There's a development inside me. You'd think I'd lost a tournament in the sense that I'm trying to get out there and prove myself again."
To that end, Harrington said, he was already thinking about the Masters in February when he played at Riviera during his first three-week PGA Tour stretch of the season. He skipped the Florida swing and played the two events leading into the Masters to play himself into optimal form.
"All tournaments lead to the Masters at this time of the year," he said.
"You know, out here that's what you're thinking about. You're thinking about getting your game in shape so when the Masters comes around, you're ready."
When he takes the first tee, the champion golfer of 2007 will get his proper introduction.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
