Pádraig Harrington

Pádraig P. Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.

Background

Harrington was born in Ballyroan, Dublin, Ireland, the youngest of five sons of Patrick and Breda Harrington. His father, "Paddy" (1933–2005), a Garda (Irish police officer) who played Gaelic football for Cork in the 1950s, was also a boxer and hurler, and played to a five handicap in golf.^[1]

The Ballyroan Parish is located in Rathfarnham, a middle class area in Dublin's Southside and the birth place of two other touring professional golfers – Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie. Harrington attended local secondary school Coláiste Éanna at the same time, but not in the same year/class, as McGinley, giving it the unique distinction of having produced two Ryder Cup golfers. Coached by Joseph McGinley, a golf enthusiast in the school, and Mark Hynes, local professional and first caddie, Harrington's interest and passion for the game grew, as the pair recorded their first victory together, in Stackstown G.C.

Career

European Tour

After a successful amateur career, including winning the Walker Cup with the Great Britain & Ireland team in 1995, Harrington turned professional later that year, joining the European Tour in 1996. Harrington came to professional golf at a relatively late age, having studied accountancy at university; he worked in that profession for a number of years while playing high-standard amateur golf. He was unsure whether to turn professional, initially doubting his skills.

His first victory came quickly, in the 1996 Peugeot Spanish Open. But for the next few years, the most remarkable thing about his career was the number of times he finished second in European Tour events without ever bettering that position, including four second places in five events in late 1999. However, in 2000 he discovered a winning touch, and he had at least one win on the European Tour each year from then up to 2004. He has finished in the top ten on the European Tour's Order of Merit seven times, including second places in 2001 and 2002 and third places in 2003 and 2004 and eventually won the Order of Merit in 2006. Harrington won the European Tour Golfer of the Year award in 2007 and 2008.

Harrington's 2006 European Order of Merit win came after a titanic battle with Paul Casey and David Howell, which was won on the last hole of the last event. Sergio García bogeyed the 72nd hole in the season ending Volvo Masters to give Harrington a share of second place which earned him enough money to leapfrog Paul Casey to 1st place on the Order of Merit.^[2]

From around 2000, Harrington appeared with increasing frequency in the U.S. at the majors and World Golf Championships events, and as a sponsor's invitee. He won his first professional event in the U.S. at the Target World Challenge, a non-PGA Tour event hosted by Tiger Woods in 2002. In both 2003 and 2004 he was the runner up in the Players Championship, and in the latter year he won enough money on the PGA Tour as a non-member to earn an invitation to the end of season Tour Championship.

PGA Tour

He took membership of the PGA Tour in 2005 and in March he won his first PGA Tour official money event at the Honda Classic, where he beat Vijay Singh and Joe Ogilvie in a sudden-death playoff. In late June, Harrington snatched the Barclays Classic from Jim Furyk with a spectacular 65-foot (20 m) eagle putt on the final hole for his second PGA Tour win. Two weeks later his father died from esophageal cancer on 11 July, the Monday night preceding the 2005 Open Championship, forcing Harrington's withdrawal.

Harrington has spent a considerable amount of time both in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 300 weeks between 2001 and 2010^[3][4]) and achieved his best ranking of third following his second Open Championship victory. He has also played for Europe in six Ryder Cups; losing in 1999 and 2008, but winning in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010. He has also won the par-3 contest at Augusta National, held the day before The Masters, in 2003 (tie) and 2004.

Major championship breakthrough

At the 2007 Open Championship, Harrington defeated Sergio García in a four-hole playoff at Carnoustie Golf Links, becoming the first Irishman to win The Open Championship in 60 years, and the first ever from the Republic of Ireland. Both players went into the playoff having shot a 7-under 277 for the championship. Harrington subsequently won by one stroke in the playoff.

A year later at the 2008 Open Championship, it was unclear if he would get a chance to defend his Open title at Royal Birkdale as eight days prior to the event he injured his wrist. But Harrington successfully defended his title, overcoming a 2-shot deficit to Greg Norman with a final round 69. He shot a four-under-par 32 on the back nine, which enabled him to pull away from Norman and Ian Poulter. His eagle on the par-5 17th all but sealed the tournament. He is the first European golfer since James Braid in 1906 to retain the Claret Jug. The win moved him from fourteenth to third in the world rankings, behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.^[5]

Just three weeks after winning the Open Championship, Harrington won the PGA Championship over the South Course of the Oakland Hills Country Club, for his third major. Although at five over par after two rounds, he shot eight under par for the weekend, carding successive scores of 66 in the third and fourth rounds. His three under par 277 was two shots ahead of Sergio García and Ben Curtis. Harrington became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years (Tommy Armour in 1930), and is the first winner from Ireland.

Aside from Tiger Woods, who has won consecutive majors three times (2000, 2002, and 2006), Harrington is the first golfer to win two majors in the same year since Mark O'Meara in 1998 and the first to win consecutive majors in the same year since Nick Price in 1994. Furthermore, aside from Woods, he is the first golfer to win three of six consecutive majors in 25 years, since Tom Watson accomplished the feat in 1983, something that only four other players – Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino had previously achieved since the modern "Grand Slam" of four majors began to be recognized in the 1950s.

Harrington's victory in the PGA Championship secured his position as the number one player in Europe, earning him the number one spot in the 2008 European Ryder Cup team under captain Nick Faldo.

2009 to present

Harrington started his 2009 season with a tied-fifth finish in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on the European Tour. He then went through one of the toughest periods of his career, missing the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, as well as the Northern Trust Open on the PGA Tour. He finished tied-11th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in what would be one of his better results in the early part of 2009. He arrived at the 2009 Masters Tournament looking for three majors in a row and the so-called "Paddy-Slam". He started with a 3-under-par first round, but eventually faded over the weekend, finishing tied for 35th place. His struggles would continue in the proceeding months, as he would miss the cut at five of his next six events, including The 3 Irish Open and the U.S. Open. It was during this period that he announced that he was working on swing changes with coach Bob Torrance. He arrived at The Open Championship at Turnberry looking to complete a hat-trick of Open wins, a feat that has only been achieved by Peter Thomson. He ended up finishing tied for 65th place. This sparked a great run of form for Harrington. He lead for first three rounds of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which led to a final day head-to-head between himself and World number one Tiger Woods. Harrington led by one shot playing the 16th hole, but he racked up a triple-bogey to Wood's birdie and he finished in joint 2nd place. The following week Harrington, the defending champion, played the first two rounds with Woods at the PGA Championship. He shot a first round 68, ending one shot behind the leader Woods. Rounds of 73 and 69 left him two shots behind Woods. He was in contention in the final round, until he made an 8 at the par-3 8th hole. He ended in a tie for 10th. He finished in the top-10 in all four FedEx Cup playoff events, before further top-10s in Europe and the States before the end of the season. He ended the year ranked number 6 in the world rankings. He ended winless on the European and PGA Tours for the first time since 1999.

Harrington missed the cut in three out of the four majors in 2010. In an inconsistent season, he had five top-10s on the PGA Tour, but also missed six cuts. He was a controversial wild-card pick by European captain Colin Montgomerie for the 2010 Ryder Cup. He won two matches and lost two matches as Europe regained the Ryder Cup. It was his sixth Ryder Cup and fourth time being on the winning team. He won his first tournament in two years at the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia on the Asian Tour. He finished the year ranked 25th in the world.

Harrington started his 2011 season with an opening round 65, for a first round lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour. He was later disqualified before his second round commenced, after a spectator telephoned in and pointed out an incident of his ball moving an exceptionally small distance closer to the hole on the green, while he was replacing his ball marker, during the first round; it had been shown on television. (The incident led to a rules review, and if it were to occur again, would not be a penalty.) It was the second time he had been disqualified in a tournament. So far in 2011 he has had three top-10s and three missed cuts on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at the Masters Tournament and finished tied for 45th at the U.S. Open. In June 2011, he dropped outside the top 50 in the World Rankings for the first time since 1999.

Coaches

Harrington was coached by Bob Torrance, the father of former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance but since mid July 2011 the pairing have separated.

Personal life

Harrington has known his wife Caroline since childhood. They were married in 1997 and have two sons: Patrick, born in 2003, and Ciarán, born in November 2007.^[6] After Harrington's Open win in 2007, Patrick was caught on microphone asking his father if they could 'put ladybirds in it' (referring to the trophy). Following his win in 2008, there were some light-hearted references to this in a subsequent interview, whereupon Harrington suggested that it was more likely that Patrick would now want snails in the trophy.

Harrington is a distant cousin of 1995 World Series of Poker champion and author Dan Harrington and NFL quarterback Joey Harrington.^[7]

Harrington's given name "Pádraig" is the Irish Language version of the name Patrick, which is in common usage in Ireland. His four older brothers have Irish names as well (Tadhg, Columb, Fintan, and Fergal).

Harrington's caddy since 2004 is Ronan Flood. Flood married Susie Gregan, the sister of Pádraig's wife, in 2007. Flood is also the younger brother of one of Harrington's childhood friends.

After leaving school, Harrington mixed amateur golf with studying Accounting. He passed his final exams in 1994 to gain admittance to ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Harrington has undergone laser eye surgery,^[8] as did his compatriot Paul McGinley, in a bid to improve his game.^[9]

Amateur wins (4)

• 1991 Sherry Cup
• 1994 West of Ireland Amateur Championship
• 1995 Irish Amateur Open Championship, Irish Amateur Close Championship

Professional wins (26)

European Tour wins (14)

¹Beat Eduardo Romero with birdie on second extra hole
²Beat Thomas Bjorn with a par on first extra hole
³Beat Bradley Dredge with par on first extra hole
⁴Shot 15 (3–3–4–5) in a four hole playoff to defeat Sergio García (5–3–4–4=16)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

• 2006 Dunlop Phoenix

Asian Tour wins (3)

• 2002 BMW Asian Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)
• 2003 Omega Hong Kong Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)
• 2010 Iskandar Johor Open

Other wins (8)

• 1998 Irish PGA Championship
• 2002 Target World Challenge (unofficial money, PGA Tour-sanctioned event)
• 2004 Irish PGA Championship
• 2005 Irish PGA Championship
• 2007 Irish PGA Championship, Hassan II Trophy
• 2008 Irish PGA Championship
• 2009 Irish PGA Championship

Major championships

Wins (3)

¹ Defeated Sergio García in four-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Harrington (3–3–4–5=15), García (5–3–4–4=16)

Results timeline

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Starts – 53
• Wins – 3
• 2nd place finishes – 0
• Top 3 finishes – 3
• Top 5 finishes – 9
• Top 10 finishes – 13
• Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 3

Results in World Golf Championship events

¹Cancelled due to terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners), 2008, 2010 (winners)
  • Record: 25 matches, 10.5 points (x% Point Percentage)
  • All Formats(W-L-H): 9–13–3 = 10.5pts
    • Singles: 3–3–0 = 3pts
      • 2004: beat Jay Haas 1h
      • 2002: beat Mark Calcavecchia 5&4
      • 1999: beat Mark O'Meara 1h
    • Foursomes: 4–4–3 = 5.5pts
      • 2010: Harrington/Fisher bt Furyk/D.Johnson 2&1
      • 2010: Harrington/Fisher bt Mickelson/D.Johnson 3&2
      • 2004: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Love III/Funk 4&2
      • 2004: Harrington/McGinley bt Love III/Woods 4&3
    • Fourballs: 2–6–0 = 2pts
      • 2004: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Woods/Mickelson 2&1
      • 2002: Harrington/Montgomerie bt Mickelson/Toms 2&1
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
• World Cup (representing Ireland): 1996, 1997 (winner with Paul McGinley), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
• Seve Trophy (representing GB & Ireland): 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners)

Awards/Honours

• International:
  • 2006:
    • European Tour Order of Merit
  • 2007:
    • European Tour Player of the Year
    • Association of Golf Writers Player of the Year
  • 2008:
    • PGA Player of the Year
    • PGA Tour Player of the Year Award
    • European Tour Player of the Year
    • Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) Player of the Year
    • Association of Golf Writers Player of the Year
    • European Tour Shot of the Year – 5w on 71st Hole in Open Championship

• National:
  • 1996 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
  • 1999 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
  • 2001 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
  • 2002 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year
  • 2004 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award (shared with Darren Clarke & Paul McGinley)
  • 2005 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
  • 2006 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
  • 2007 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year
  • 2008 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award, Irish Golf Writers Professional of the Year Award, RTÉ Sports Person of the Year

Equipment

• Driver: Taylor Made R9 Driver
• Woods: Wilson Staff Fw6 Fairway 5-wood
• Hybrids: Wilson Staff Fh6 Hybrid (19°)
• Irons: Wilson Staff FG Tour Irons 3-PW
• Wedges: Wilson Staff Tw9(54° and 60°)
• Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
• Clothing: Kartel Clothing throughout
• Shoes: Footjoy

Facts

• Harrington is the only player in the world to have been partnered with Tiger Woods in a tournament five or more times and to outscore him. Harrington has a 68.83 average in six rounds, compared with Woods' average score of 69.50. The rest of the world's top players averaged over 70.
• In May 2009 he verified that the "Happy Gilmore swing", a swing with a running start, is successful and increased his usual drive of 296 yards by an extra 30 yards.^[10]
• Harrington is the official golfer for FTI Consulting

See also

• Golfers with most major championship wins
• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most European Tour wins
• List of European Ryder Cup golfers
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References

External links

• Official website
• Pádraig Harrington at the European Tour official site
• Pádraig Harrington at the PGA Tour official site
• Pádraig Harrington at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Pádraig Harrington at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Irish Examiner.com – "The making of a Major champion" – 28 July 2007