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Harrington Aims For Greater Glory After 2nd Major

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 24, 2008

Updated: 07/24/2008 12:23 am

Padraig Harrington never tires of reading the fine print on the silver claret jug, and as he stood up from a table at Royal Birkdale after winning his second straight British Open, he slowly turned golf's oldest trophy to see his name on consecutive rows.

There were 126 names. It's also worth noting what wasn't on the jug.

"I don't think this champion has anything to worry about with asterisks etched next to his name," Royal & Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson said. "He proved that last year."

The bluster at the start of this British Open was whether the winner should get full credit because Tiger Woods couldn't play. That was long forgotten after Harrington shot a 32 in his final nine holes in 30-mph wind to follow Woods as a back-to-back champion.

The only question is how much more the Irishman can achieve.

"Winning the first major last year ... the reflection on that was, 'Guys have won one major. Let's try to set yourself apart and win two,'" Harrington said Monday after his four-shot victory moved him up to No. 3 in the world.

"Now that I've got two, I'm in a different club now. What's the next club? I will have time to reflect and reset some new goals. You've got to keep pushing."

Norman Pondering Invitation To PGA

Greg Norman says he has until today to decide whether to accept an invitation to play in the final major of the year, the PGA Championship.

Norman's third-place finish at the British Open at Royal Birkdale has given him a place in the field for the PGA at Oakland Hills near Detroit on Aug. 7-10.

"The PGA have extended an invitation to the PGA Championship and I haven't confirmed or denied what I'm going to do yet," Norman said Wednesday on the eve of the Senior British Open at Troon. "That's four weeks in a row, and I already have something else on my schedule then.

Norman, whose business interests have made him a part-time golfer these days, plans to play in the Senior U.S. Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo., next week.

The 53-year-old Australian, who took a one-shot lead onto the back nine in the final round at Royal Birkdale only to finish six behind Padraig Harrington, also said he doesn't want to play too many tournaments after undergoing several operations to repair long-term injuries.

"This morning I woke up stiff and I had to do a bit more stretching," he said. "And I hadn't even hit a lot of balls yesterday. So that's always in the back of my head."

That's A Loaded Question

The LPGA Tour had a fan poll on its Web site during the second round of the State Farm Classic, asking for predictions on who would win the tournament.

Michelle Wie, who is not an LPGA member, was among the names atop the leaderboard, but she was not part of the poll. The choices were LPGA champion Yani Tseng, Angela Park, Angela Stanford, Sherri Steinhauer, Jee Young Lee and "Other."

Tseng received 12 percent of the votes. "Other" was the leader at 63 percent. Ji Young Oh beat Tseng in a playoff.

The View From Above

Fans were startled Friday morning at Royal Birkdale when a large corporate jet flew over the golf course early in the second round, banked sharply and continued south down the coast.

It was a Gulfstream V bringing a special guest to the British Open - three-time champion Jack Nicklaus.

And the Golden Bear wasn't quite sure where he was.

Looking out from his window, Nicklaus told his assistants, "Wow, what a beautiful piece of property." That's when they informed him that links land was Royal Birkdale.

Nicklaus' best finish on this links was a tie for second - six shots behind Johnny Miller - in 1976.

Stat Of The Week

Tampa native Woody Austin received more Ryder Cup points from his tie for 39th at the British Open than Kenny Perry received from his tie for sixth in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

Stat Of The Week, Part II

Americans have finished among the top three in 32 of the 35 majors this decade. The exceptions are the British Open in 2002, 2007 and 2008.

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