Padraig Harrington broke the British domination in the British Open in 2007 by becoming the first Irishman to win the title in 60 years. Born in Dublin, Ireland, 40-year old Harington turned professional in 1995 winning the Walker Cup as part of the Britain and Irish team. A year later, he joined the European Tour breaking into the golf circuit by winning the 1996 Peugeot Spanish Open. He didn’t win anything until 2000 at the Brazil Sao Paulo 500 Years Open by a 2-stroke margin over Gerry Norquist. He also earned the BBVA Open Turespana Masters title in October 22, 2000 as well as the Volvo Masters Andalucia title in November of the same year. He ended 2002 with wins from the Dunhill Links Championship (beating Eduardo Romero) and the BMW Asian Open (beating Jyoti Randhawa).
He has since won the Deutsche Bank – SAP Open TPC of Europe in May 18, 2003, Omega Hong Kong Open in December 7, 2003 and the Linde German Masters Tournament in September 12, 2004. He has also earned the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship again in 2006 and the Irish Open trophy in 2007. Since joining the PGA Tour, he has won two tournaments in 2005, the Honda Classic in March 13, 2005 beating Vijay Singh and the Barclays Classic in June 26, 2005 over Jim Furyk. His biggest win to date is the Open Championship in Carnoustie, defeating Sergio Garcia by one shot going into the play off with 7 under 277.
2008 showed promise for this Irishman, averaging at T3 at the Northern Trust Open, T4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, T4 at the Stanford St. Jude Championship, T5 at the Masters Tournament and T14 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Although Harrington was coached by Bob Torrance, the pair have separated in July 2011. Harrington currently has 26 professional victories, including three Major Championship victories: 2007 and 2008 Open Championship and 2008 PGA Championship. Harrington is also known for being the first golfer to have two Major titles won in the same year since Mark O’Meara, other than Tiger Woods of course.
