What do Irishmen William Butler Yeats, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, Bono and Padraig Harrington have in common?
All have been featured on postage stamps of Ireland. Seven have written memorable novels, short stories, plays, poems or lyrics.
But only one has won The Open twice.
Harrington has become the Emerald Isle’s greatest golfer of all time and the best golfer in the world not named Woods. No other citizen of the Republic of Ireland has won a major; only one other golfer from anywhere else has won two majors since last July.
The former accountant conquered the wind Sunday and finally prevailed in a breeze at Royal Birkdale, 130 miles directly across the Irish Sea from his homeland.
Well, Tiger wasn’t there.
Well, Padraig did beat Tiger by five strokes last year in the British Open to us in the U.S., but The Open to those in the rest of the world. Padraig did win a playoff (in Japan in 2006) over Tiger, who is 15-2 in such. Padraig’s first title in the U.S. was at Tiger’s own tournament. And among professionals who have been paired with Tiger in tournaments five times or more, only Padraig has a lower scoring average (68.83 to 69.50).
Without Tiger, what would The Open do? Well, it did well. There was a man trying to become the oldest winner of a major — and the oldest winner of The Open since Old Tom Morris. But Old Greg Norman couldn’t hang on. There was The Pink Pantster, Ian Poulter, who came up short, and the famous foursome at 14 over — Phil Mickelson, Rocco Mediate, Davis Love III and Jean Van de Velde.
And there was David Duval. The once remarkable No. 1 player, BT (Before Tiger), whose last title was at The Open in 2001, made a gallant effort. The 36-year-old Duval lives in the Denver area and plays “country club golf and with my kids,” he told me months ago. He opened 73-69 and was in contention, but ballooned to 83 on Saturday, then recovered with a 71 in the final round.
But Harrington, who wasn’t sure he could play because of an injured wrist, stood alone in the wind at the end.
He has won 22 times, played on seven Walker and Ryder Cup teams, was the European player of the year in 2007 and currently is ranked third in the world.
Harrington didn’t drive the snakes out of Ireland. Saint Padraig (Gaelic for Patrick) already achieved that mythical feat. But Harrington clutched an eagle on the 17th on Sunday to guarantee his triumph.
James Joyce would write “Portrait of the Irish Golfer as Champion.”
Harrington was born in a small village on the road from Dublin to Limerick. As a teenager he just wanted to compete with his two brothers, his father and his uncle — all 5-handicappers. He intended to be a professional accountant and an amateur golfer. At 24, he switched careers.
As someone who is part Irish — the part that eats brown bread and drinks Guinness Stout — I became impressed with his smooth swing, his unpretentious disposition and his solid game at the U.S. Open in 2000.
Harrington has owned the Irish PGA Championship, winning four of the last five. But, then, the island’s two most successful golfers may have been Rhona Adair and Philomena Garvey.
You’d expect the top golfer in a land without trees or Woods to be named Pete Moss.
Ireland is known more for writers, actors and U2.
But it has more golf courses per capita than any other country in the world. Scotland’s courses are tradition, Ireland’s beauty.
Ballybunion, on the southwest coast, is one of the 10 most renowned courses in the world.
But Old Head Golf Links is the most incredible course in the world. Located on a rocky promontory and former site of a castle and a 12th-century farm outside Kinsale, Old Head is surrounded on all sides, hundreds of feet below, by the Atlantic Ocean.
Waterville Golf Club is where Tom Watson and, later, Tiger Woods went to prepare for The Open. Charlie Chaplin and his family spent every summer in the inn a mile away. Doonbeg, a relatively new course, was designed by Old Greg Norman and meanders alongside sand dunes protecting (with an electric fence) endangered worms. Lahinch runs out of a seaside western town and was designed by Allister McKenzie, who also did Cypress Point and Augusta National. He put in a cute par 3 with a blind tee shot.
Among the other splendid 400- plus golf courses in Ireland are the K-Club (site of the last Ryder Cup matches) Portmarnock, Mount Juliet and Carne Golf Links, possibly the most difficult and definitely the most remote.
Harrington grew up playing at Stackstown, a club his father helped build in County Dublin.
A few years ago in Ireland, a club pro told me that more than three- quarters of the rounds were played there by American tourists. The Irish work for a living. That percentage has dropped because of the economy here and rising travel concerns and costs.
“We’ve always got Our Paddy,” the club pro said. Dubliners celebrated with a round — not of golf, but of drinks — on Sunday afternoon.
And the president of Ireland phoned and told Harrington he “is a wonderful Irishman.”
How about another stamp? Irish eyes are in good spirits.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
