2026-06-28 09:36:57
Padraig Harrington still believes he could win another Open Championship.
The Irish golfer lifted the Claret Jug in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008 and hasn’t ruled out another title tilt at the age of 54 – citing how veterans such as Greg Norman and Tom Watson have challenged at the event in the past.
Speaking to Golf Monthly magazine, Harrington said: “Look, Greg was 53 when we went at it in 2008, and he led us a merry dance for three rounds.
“He was leading by two going into the final round, but he never really recovered from a rough start. Any one of the four early bogeys he made could just as easily have been pars, and if a couple of those putts had dropped it might have been a different story.
“I’m only a year older than Greg was, and don’t forget Tom Watson was this close (demonstrates with his fingers) to winning at Turnberry a few years later at the age of 59.
“I’m not comparing myself to either of those guys. But The Open is definitely a tournament where links experience is massive, and age is just a number.”
Meanwhile, Harrington believes he would never have recovered had he squandered the chance to win a first Open title at Carnoustie in 2007 – when he triumphed in a play-off against Sergio Garcia despite double-bogeying the final hole.
The three-time major winner recalled: “As we all know, Sergio found the greenside bunker at the last, and his ten-footer for par stayed out. And I got the job done in the play-off against him.
“But if I hadn’t won, I honestly believe it would have been a blow I would never have come back from. If I’d had to live with the realisation that I had thrown away The Open, it would have hit me very hard. I think I would have struggled to come back out and be a competitive golfer. It meant that much to me.”
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