SOUTHPORT, England -- If I were a young, hungry and talented guy like Adam Scott, who recently slammed his right hand in a car door and broke a bone, I might consider becoming ambidextrous.
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| There's no pain here as Padraig Harrington hoists son Patrick after the British Open victory. (AP) |
The way the walking wounded are collecting majors, plenty of players in search of their first Grand Slam titles should consider banging hammers on their thumbs, poking out an eyeball or driving at high speed into a brick wall without a seat belt.
Defending British Open champion Padraig Harrington began the week as a large medical question mark, his left wrist sprained during a quirky practice session the previous weekend. Early on, the Irishman placed the odds of finishing the week at 50-50.
Unless we misunderstood. Perhaps he meant his odds of winning
The 36-year-old shredded the back nine Sunday and claimed his second consecutive Open, finishing 3 over to beat Ian Poulter by four shots at blustery Royal Birkdale and becoming the 16th player to win the cherished claret jug multiple times.
"There's no doubt this week that it helped me having an injury," Harrington said, the jug sitting six inches from that same left wrist. "It took all the pressure and stress and expectation away from my game. It helped me deflect so much away from coming back and defending, and it gave me it was like coming in afresh. There was no judgment coming into it."
But plenty afterward. His mind on matters other than the daunting task of defending, Harrington became the first European to win the Open back-to-back since 1905-06 and thus has arguably become the greatest figure in Irish sports history.
"We always say beware of the injured golfer," he said.
We've said it a lot lately, right? The guys winning majors this year have had such lengthy medical charts, it's even giving me a headache.
First, recall that four months before he won the Masters title, Trevor Immelman had worrisome emergency surgery in December to remove a growth from his diaphragm, a procedure that left a large scar across his back.
A month ago, Tiger Woods wobbled and pogoed his way to a victory at the U.S. Open, despite eventually disclosing that he had suffered a blown ACL and two hairline cracks in his left leg. Woods went 91 grueling and painful holes to collect his trophy, then was hauled into surgery a few days later for full reconstructive surgery.
Harrington's issue wasn't remotely as serious, of course, but there was some doubt whether Harrington would finish his first 18 holes this week, which was played under some of the most consistently awful weather conditions in recent major-championship history.
