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Golf.com
 Ireland
can be proud of Harrington's accomplishments
By John Garrity
Senior Writer,
Sports Illustrated
Published:
August 11, 2008 |
Padraig
Harrington is the first Irishman to win the PGA Championship, and
he's the first Irishman to win back-to-back majors. He's also the
first Irishman to win three majors inside of 13 months. He's the
first Irishman to ascend to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking,
and he's the first Irishman to complain of dehydration and then reach
for a sports drink instead of a pint of Guinness. After yesterday's
triumph at Oakland Hills, Harrington is — to sports fans, at
least — the First Irishman.
I know,
everyone has been calling him a "European." The TV guys
keep pointing out that Padraig is the first European to win the PGA
since the Scottish emigre Tommy Armour prevailed at Fresh Meadow in
1930, and there is endless analysis of how Harrington's run of
brilliance might boost Europe's chances in next month's Ryder Cup.
But all this chatter comes from dopes like me who pronounce his name
"POD-reg." In Ireland, of course, he is "POR-ig"
-- with a trilled 'r.'
"His
nickname is Paddy," writes John Hopkins in The Times, "and
he looks every bit the friendly sort of Irishman you hope to bump
into at a bar in Dublin. He plays a bit of golf but you wouldn't know
to what level because he doesn't talk about it much. All you know is
that he sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth when he plays."
Well, we'll
soon know a lot more. Ireland is full of poets, playwrights and
balladeers, and half of them are probably bent over their desks at
this very moment, extolling "the hills of Oakland" and
trying to find a rhyme for "Sergio."
Paddymania?
That might be overstating it, but I was in Ireland on sabbatical last
summer when Harrington dusted his Spanish rival at Carnoustie to win
his first Open. Paddy got an open-top-bus parade. He visited
then-Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. His smiling mug graced the front
page of every publication in the country, with the possible exception
of Irish Roundabouts Monthly. Two weeks ago, when I returned to
County Mayo for a week of R&R, the Emerald Islanders were
celebrating Harrington's second Open Championship (Royal Birkdale),
while the typing trade declared him Ireland's "greatest
sportsman" of all time.
This latest
victory certainly raises Harrington to the pinnacle of Irish sports
achievement — which, one must admit, is not much higher than the
dwarf mountains that overlook his home course in County Dublin.
Ireland has claimed only one Olympic gold medal in track and field in
the last half-century (Ronnie Delany's win in the 1500 meters at
Melbourne), one Tour de France victory (Stephen Roche, 1987), and
four other Olympic golds (one for boxer Michael Carruth, 1992; three
for swimmer Michelle Smith, 1996). There are zip codes in Delaware
that have produced more international champions.
Golfers?
Ireland has had a few. Fred Daly won the 1947 British Open at
Hoylake, and Christy O'Connor Jr. — nephew to the Christy
O'Connor who is known in Ireland simply as "Himself" —
struck the unforgettable 2-iron shot at the Belfry that retained the
1989 Ryder Cup for Europe. The Irish will never forget Joe Carr,
either, and more recently they have been able to cheer for the likes
of Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty, Darren Clarke, Paul
McGinley, and Philip Walton. And David Feherty, too, although
Feherty's gifts as a writer and paid gabber have made people forget
that he beat Payne Stewart in singles at the 1991 Ryder Cup.
But
Harrington's accomplishment is of a different order of magnitude. And
it's ironic, because the two supposedly Tigerless majors of 2008
wound up being won by a Celtic Tiger — the pro from Stackstown
Golf Club in Rathfarnham, Dublin.
Smile, Ireland.
You've every right to be proud.
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