Padraig Harrington rather enjoys setting records.<\/p>\n
The 2024 inductee to the World Golf Hall of Fame tied Miller Barber by winning his third U.S. Senior Open on Sunday at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n
Harrington shot a Sunday-best round of 4-under-par 66 and finished at 12-under 268, four strokes ahead of Stewart Cink and six better than George McNeill.<\/p>\n
Harrington also defended his title from a year ago, when he won at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The Irishman captured his first U.S. Senior Open crown in 2022.<\/p>\n
“I like creating records, and to be part of that is a big deal,” said Harrington. “It just goes to show how hard it is.”<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old already sees younger players like Cink and Zach Johnson emerging on the scene and understands he has limited time to gather more hardware.<\/p>\n
“Now I’m seeing guys coming along, and I’m kind of realizing there is only a window to win these tournaments,” Harrington said. “They have told me, other players, that it’s kind of up to about 56, 57, then it starts going downhill pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n
Harrington trailed Cink by one stroke entering the final round, but took the lead with birdies on the first two holes and never looked back. Harrington birdied the par-4, 470-yard second hole by hitting his approach to 3 feet and sinking the putt. Cink could not reach the green from a fairway bunker and ended up making a bogey for a two-shot swing.<\/p>\n
Cink also bogeyed the third hole, giving Harrington a three-stroke lead. Harrington momentarily stumbled, bogeying No. 5, but birdied Nos. 6 and 8 to gain complete control with a four-stroke advantage. Harrington curled in a 30-foot putt on the par-4 eighth, the toughest hole on the course.<\/p>\n
He played the final 13 holes in 3 under, taking any drama out of the finishing holes.<\/p>\n
“It’s different, I’ve got to say,” said Harrington, who won for the first time in 2026. “It feels great, but obviously there wasn’t the drama that I know we normally provide down the stretch. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling it. I was really trying to stay in it, stay focused. I knew I had a nice lead, which let me play to the middle of the greens, let me hit the shots.<\/p>\n
“But I did, I hit some big shots coming on the way home to take all the stress out of it.”<\/p>\n
After posting a 6-under round of 64 on Saturday, Cink stumbled to a 1-over 71 on Sunday and finished at 8 under par. He bemoaned his play in an otherwise outstanding campaign.<\/p>\n
“I wanted to play well and set myself up for the rest of the year,” said Cink. “I just — golf got hard for me today, and it happens. It’s been a while since I had a day like that where start to finish it pretty much felt difficult, but today it kind of did, and my scorecard pretty much tells the story.”<\/p>\n
McNeill also carded a 71 to earn third place at 6 under, while England’s Ian Poulter (67) finished fourth at 5 under and South Africa’s Retief Goosen (67) tied for fifth at 4 under with Jamie Donaldson of Wales (68) and Paul Stankowski (69).<\/p>\n
McNeill had high praise for Harrington.<\/p>\n
“Padraig, always been a world-class player. It’s not like he just showed up one day. He’s won, I forget how many majors on the regular tour, British and PGAs and now he has three or four majors out here on the Champions Tour.<\/p>\n
“So, yeah, he did the right things. Hits the right shots. Hits it fairly straight. Good short game. Makes a lot of putts. He does what he’s supposed to do, what a good player, a world-class player, you would expect of him.”<\/p>\n
Harrington will attempt to defend his Senior Open Championship title at Gleneagles in Scotland beginning on July 23.<\/p>\n
–Field Level Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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