Harrington celebrates after Irish Open win
Padraig Harrington today hailed his dramatic Irish Open victory as one of the highlights of his career.
Harrington ended Ireland’s 25-year wait for a home winner with a nerve-wracking play-off win over Wales’ Bradley Dredge after the pair had finished tied on five under par at Adare Manor.
The 35-year-old Dubliner triumphed on the first play-off hole and added his national open title to a CV which includes several Ryder Cup wins, a World Cup victory in 1997 and his current position as European number one.
“I would put it as an equal (achievement),” Harrington said. “The World Cup I won with Paul McGinley was just unbelievable, there’s no question about it. I would have to say for excitement that was incredible.
“The Ryder Cup in 2002, again, unbelievable, the excitement in that. There have been a number of other events, but this is at the top of the pile, no question about it. But I wouldn’t set it apart.”
Harrington seemed certain to become the first Irish winner since John O’Leary in 1982 when he birdied the seventh and eighth and eagled the ninth to lead by four shots.
Despite a determined challenge by playing partner Dredge, he also led by two with two to play, only for Dredge to birdie the 17th while Harrington bogeyed from the middle of the fairway with just a wedge for his second shot.
“I’m thrilled,” added Harrington, who finally sealed victory with a par five when the players returned to the 18th, Dredge’s third shot having plugged in the bank of the greenside lake.
“I felt coming into the tournament, aside from a bit of jetlag, that I was on top of my game and really ready to play.
“So I spent the whole week trying to keep a really even keel and not get ahead of myself all the way through.
“It’s quite a relief, when you’re trying to keep it down all the time, trying to keep your emotions down, it's quite a relief now to have won it.
“I was a little bit more nervous certainly than the last round of the US Open last year [where he finished fifth] or the last round of the Masters this year [where he finished seventh].
“In both those cases, I wasn’t leading. It’s definitely harder to go in with a lead. Going out there I knew it was never going to be easy and I was kind of sure, I had it in my head that it was quite possible I would lose the lead at some stage in the round.
“I felt good that I had a great chance of winning and felt confident about winning. I didn’t wish I was going to do it easily, I kind of knew I was going to make it hard.”
