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Norman's main weakness is that he is semi-retired, more of a tennis player nowadays than a golfer. Still, Harrington didn't count him out, having lost to him 2 and 1 in an exhibition match at Doonbeg, the Norman-designed links course in southwest Ireland, in 2002.
"When he's interested, Greg Norman can really play," Harrington said before the final round. "He knocked the socks off me in Doonbeg, and you could see he wanted to play golf that day."
Norman wanted to play Sunday, but his driver wouldn't cooperate, producing wild shots on the second, sixth and eighth holes. His putter, hot all week, also failed him, and he was seemingly out of contention.
It looked like a replay of Augusta in 1996, the leader fidgeting and fighting his game, his closest pursuer steadily coming up behind, only this time the prize was a jug, not a jacket.
Then Harrington bogeyed seven, eight and nine, and just like that Norman was back in the lead by a shot. Neither man made a birdie until the 13th hole, when Harrington rolled in an 18-footer and Norman bogeyed. The two-shot swing left the Irishman six over and up three strokes on his AARP-aged playing partner.
But there was another man to worry about. Englishman Ian Poulter, playing five groups ahead, turned in 35 on the front and then birdied 11. When he stroked his 18-foot birdie putt into the 16th hole, the ball hanging on the front edge of the cup before going in, he was seven over with just two holes to play, one of them the par-5 17th.
Alas, after a great drive and second shot to get home in two, he made a three-putt par. On 18, his second shot came up short but he made a 15-footer to save par. He was in the clubhouse at seven over. It seemed potentially good enough for a playoff, and Poulter began warming up on the driving range.
Then Harrington began his heroics.
From the outset Sunday there were low scores to be had, as evidenced by David Howell's three-under 67 and Ernie Els and Robert Karlsson's one-under 69s. All three players got to 12 over for the tournament, eventually finishing tied for seventh place.
But with few exceptions the players who were close enough to put pressure on the last pairing failed to make a move. Other than Poulter, Wood came the closest. Wakefield, a mid-career Englishman who has never won on the Euro Tour, imploded with a back-nine 43. Fisher also shot 43. Kim couldn't scratch out a single birdie and shot 75 (T7). Choi (79, T16) fought his putter.
"I just went brain-dead," said Sergio Garcia, speaking for many after a 78 (T51). "My body just didn't react to my thoughts. I couldn't think straight and didn't make any good decisions."
Four straight days of 25-48-mph winds has that effect on people. Unless, of course, you're Harrington. He and Norman almost didn't play this British Open, and not because they were emulating Nike's first golf commercial (I Am Tiger Woods).
Norman felt his game wasn't ready, but while vacationing in the Scottish Highlands with his new bride, Chris Evert, she convinced him to play. And so it was a week in which the headline "Stormin' Norman" referred to the Great White Shark, and not two players in the chase pack, Storm and Noren (Graeme and Alex, respectively).
Harrington hurt his right wrist while swinging a club into an impact bag on the Saturday before the Open, and he played only nine holes in practice rounds. He pronounced himself only 75% likely to start, and 50% likely to finish all four rounds. But once he commits, as he did Wednesday night, he is 100% likely to fight, and on Sunday he called the injury a blessing in disguise.
"It pushed everything about coming back to defend to the side," he said. "It took a lot of the pressure off me, a lot of the stress off me. It was a good distraction to have."
And so in the end even a sprained wrist became a positive, which makes sense only when you remember that this is a man who would just as soon play golf with sand blowing sideways, water running down his nose and gorse grabbing at his ankles.
Padraig Harrington has found his major.
