Harrington is looking to win his second consective British Open championship, which would make him the 16th player in Open history to win consecutive years.
Padraig Harrington stats for the day & week
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| Category | Today | Week (rank) |
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Fairways hit: | 7 of 14 | 21 of 42 (T50th) |
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Driving average: | 311.0 | 292.2 (36th) |
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Greens hit: | 11 of 18 | 28 of 54 (T34th) |
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Putts: | 32 | 87 (T11th) |
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0-putt greens: | 1 | 2 |
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1-putt greens: | 5 | 20 |
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2-putt greens: | 9 | 29 |
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3-putt greens: | 3 | 3
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So who was the last player to defend his British Open title? Of course that is easy, Tiger Woods who did it just two years ago down the road at Hoylake. That is the drama that awaits Padraig Harrington, who on Wednesday was thinking of withdrawing because of a sore wrist and now is looking the win the British Open two years straight. Four days after contemplating withdrawing on Saturday night he will go to bed with the dream of being just the 16 player in British Open history and just the fifth since World War II to accomplish that feat. Hopefully Harrington is reading this blog because defending and playing at Birkdale has some history. For example, Peter Thomson won in 1954 at Birkdale and won the next two times. Arnold Palmer did the same feat, winning at Birkdale and then winning the next year in 1962. Lee Trevino won at Birkdale in 1971 and then accomplished the back to back win the next year and in 1982 Tom Watson won at Troon and then won at Birkdale the next year. So in the eight years the Open has been held at Birkdale, half of them have had back to back wins involved.
For Harrington he is again playing just like he did last year. Last year the week before the British he went off to the European Club and won the Irish PGA Championship then won at Carnoustie. Last week he did it again, going over to the European Club and winning the Irish PGA again. As Pat Ruddy, the owner of the European Club said to me, "is it too much to hope for the "double double" for Harrington. If he does it again it's going to cost me a bundle not being able to charge green fees again next year because he will have to hold the Irish PGA at the European Club".
Photo: © Stuart Franklin/Getty Images | | Padraig Harrington shows a lot of determination on his face looking to win the British Open two years in a row |
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The big question will be if Harrington can win again on Sunday. On Saturday he shot 72 on a day that he made 4 birdies, 4 bogeys and one double. Again he was totally focused on his game as he said that he never looked at a leaderboard all day. Again Harrington looks forward to the challenge on Sunday and hopes for high winds giving him a great chance at victory. As for playing in the final group with Greg Norman, he has experience in playing with Norman at the British Open. But the big question, will Harrington play his game like he has done the first couple of days, avoiding any look at the leaderboard and then playing against Norman? Last year Harrington was six back going into the final round and backed into the championship when Garcia couldn't hold the lead. How will Harrington do in a mano-a-mano battle with the Great White Shark? As Harrington said he had no stress in the final round last year until the final holes. He would love to have the same attitude tomorrow but he knows playing with the leader will bring different stresses and pressures that he didn't have last year.
As for me, I really don't think that he can do it, there will be way too many things for him to worry about. But by chance if I am wrong and he wins it will be a great victory for the Irishman, even greater than last year.
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