Golf

Padraig Harrington: Five best moments of a hall of fame career

From World Cup success with Paul McGinley to back-to-back opens and a US PGA crown - relive Harrington’s best moments

Padraig Harrington kisses the Claret Jug after arriving back in Ireland following his 2008 Open Championship victory. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Padraig Harrington kisses the Claret Jug after arriving back in Ireland following his 2008 Open Championship victory. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Philip Reid
Mon Jun 10 2024 - 12:00

In advance of his induction into the golfing Hall of Fame on Monday evening at a ceremony in Pinehurst, North Carolina, we look back on some of Padraig Harrington’s finest moments.

Top of the World
Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley after winning the golf World Cup at Kiawah Island in 1997. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley after winning the golf World Cup at Kiawah Island in 1997. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho

For the 1997 World Cup held at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Harrington teamed up with Paul McGinley in the 32-team two-man event to conquer the world. Back then, the World Cup was a huge deal and Ireland emerged top of the pile, five strokes clear of Scotland with the United States in third. “That was a big, big deal,” recalled Harrington.

The 136th Open
Padraig Harrington of Ireland walks off the 18th green with his son Patrick during the final round of the 2007 Open. Patrick famously asked if he could put ladybirds inside the Claret Jug. Photograph: Getty Images/Inpho
Padraig Harrington of Ireland walks off the 18th green with his son Patrick during the final round of the 2007 Open. Patrick famously asked if he could put ladybirds inside the Claret Jug. Photograph: Getty Images/Inpho

No Irish player had won a Major since Fred Daly in 1947. Destiny called Harrington to break the 60-year barren spell at Carnoustie in 2007, where the Dubliner finished the championship tied with Sergio Garcia and then defeated the Spaniard in a four hole play-off. Of course, that breakthrough win was memorable for his young son Paddy running on to the green, and wondering if he could put ladybirds in the Claret Jug.

Back-to-back Opens

There was a question mark about Harrington’s fitness ahead of his Claret Jug defence in 2008 at Royal Birkdale after he sustained a wrist injury from an exercise routine at home. But Harrington played and won, becoming the first European since James Braid in 1906 to retain the famed trophy.

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2008 US PGA Championship

Harrington struggled through the first two rounds of the weather-affected championship, suffering from dehydration, but produced a stunning weekend of golf. He was five over through 36 holes but was eight under for the final two rounds – with back-to-back 66s – to beat Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis by two and claim the Wannamaker Trophy.

2007 Irish Open
Padraig Harrington lifts the Irish Open trophy in 2007 at Adare Manor. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Padraig Harrington lifts the Irish Open trophy in 2007 at Adare Manor. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho

What kick-started his Major conquests? You have to look at the Irish Open at Adare Manor as the key influencer, where Harrington became the first Irishman in 25 years – since John O’Leary – to win the tournament where he defeated Bradley Dredge in a playoff.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times