………. It took a lot of pressure off me.”Poulter, resplendent in pink pants, also put on an impressive display on the back nine, shooting a 34 that included birdies at Nos. 11 and 16. His dramatic 14-footer for par at the 18th for a 69 made him the leader in the clubhouse at seven over par. At the 17th hole, Poulter had an 8-foot putt for birdie that would have given him a one-stroke lead as Harrington, then at seven over, was playing the 13th.Poulter missed, and Harrington — who hit a 5-iron some 229 yards downwind onto the 13th green — made a 15-footer for birdie. “That was a plus,” Harrington said. “Anytime you make birdies in the wind you feel like you get one back on the golf course and you feel like you have one in the bank.”Not that he needed it, but he added another birdie at the 15th and then hit the shot of the tournament at the 17th hole, a 5-wood second shot from 249 yards that hit the front of the green and rolled to within five feet of the hole.“He’s gone out thereffxi giland done his stuff on the back nine,” Poulter said after watching the shot in a cabin on the practice range. “He’s played incredible. It’s a hell of a performance, what can you say? Back-to-back Opens hasn’t been done that often, so it’s very impressive.”It was last done two years ago by Tiger Woods down the road at Hoylake. Harrington, now theLOTRO Gold17th man to do it, is the first European to repeat since James Braid in 1905-6.That is not quite as ancient as the record Norman was unable to chase down — oldest winner of the Open Championship since Old TomLOTR GoldMorris in 1867 at age 46.For Norman, it is on to Troon to play in the Senior British Open and then back to the United States for the Senior United States Open. After that, he said he did not plan to play muchlord of the ring goldgolf and certainly was not going to resume a regular competitive schedule.“I can walk away from here being disappointed, but I can walk away from here with my head held highGranado Espada Visbecause I hung in there,” he said. “I got a couple of unfortunate lip-outs. Maybe on 11 and 12 if they lip in instead of lip out, it’s a totally different score. It wasn’t meant to be, and you’ve got to take that with a grain of salt.”A year ago, Harrington came fromGranado Espada goldsix shots off the pace to catch García and then won convincingly in a playoff after a double-bogey at the 18th let García back into the tournament. On Sunday, Harrington came at Norman the way a champion boxerGE moneydoes a wounded opponent, throwing his best, right from the first hole to the last.And after demonstrating what kind of golfer he is, Harrington showed what kind of sportsman he is, congratulating Norman, in his speech on the green and in his news conference afterward.“You know, he went out there leading the tournament in very difficult conditions,” Harrington said. “Probably the hardest thing in the world is to defend the lead in any circumstancesdofus kamasgoing into a tough course. As myself and my caddie were discussing, gee whiz, you’d be happy to drive the ball like him at any stage in your career, let alone at 53 years of age.”And, as he always has been, even during the bitter disappointments from losses in the 1980s and 1990s,Normanwas gracious in defeat. He acknowledged the roars that greeted him at the 18th hole with a smile.“All day, Padraig hit the ball solid and square, which was really impressive,” he said as he cleaned out his locker in the Royal Birkdale clubhouse. “The people were great, I enjoyed it. Even at the end, when you finish out, to see the people do what they did, it makes you feel good.” |
