Padraig Harrington won his second US Senior Open as he came out on top over Stewart Cink and Miguel Angel Jimenez on a tense day in Colorado.
Harrington ended up seeing off the competition in the end to win by just a single shot as he made it five career majors across the PGA and Senior tours.
The Irishman has already cemented his legacy as one of the best to ever play the game but his continued fine form on the Senior tour shows just how good he still is.
It wasn’t easy for Harrington, though, who had to battle Cink at the top and then saw a surging Jimenez shoot a final round of six under par to put himself into the mix.
Nevertheless, it was Harrington’s day in the end, although he did reveal both his rivals were on his mind at one point.
Padraig Harrington reacts after winning the US Senior Open again
Harrington just seems to get better with age it appears and this win was yet another example of his brilliance over the years.
Of course, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Stewart Cink are also two seasoned vets of the game and Harrington has admitted he very much had them in his thoughts as he battled away to win.
“I don’t scoreboard watch. Especially as myself and Stewart were going well, I didn’t need to scoreboard watch. I knew it was between me and him. When we stalled up on the back nine, which often happens, we kind of hit a wall,” Harrington explained.
“So on 13 I did ask my caddie, is it just me and Stewart, or is there anybody else here? I was worried that if there’s somebody else there, I’d have to go after it a bit more; whereas if you’re one ahead, you’re hitting the shots like you’re one shot behind. You should always hit that anyway.
“I was just a little bit worried. I didn’t know he got to 10 because I don’t watch scoreboards. I knew he got to 9. I was worried about Miguel because good things are happening to Miguel at the moment. He birdied the last two last week to get into a playoff. He’s in that frame of mind to do crazy things.
“Yeah, it was a little bit in the back of my head, but I didn’t hear big cheers coming home. So I was kind of — I only checked again — I probably checked on — I think I only checked on the 18th that Miguel hadn’t — wasn’t in it, it was just myself and Stewart. Up to that, I was quite comfortable that I needed. I was trying to make birdies on those holes coming in, but I wasn’t panicking, even though, as I said, Miguel is having a great run. He’s doing crazy things. So he would be a danger.”
Padraig Harrington deserves so much credit for his career
We often speak about some of the great golfers of all time but so often, Padraig Harrington doesn’t get a mention.
However, it goes without saying that Harrington very much deserves to be brought up in the conversations about the best to ever do it.
Sure, he’s not quite at the very top level but in terms of players from Europe, few are better and his five majors across the PGA and Senior Tours show how good he is.
When all is said and done, Harrington will go down as one of the best players Europe has ever produced.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
