The generation game is a strange one, especially when it comes to golf. Age is not a barrier.
And, as this 144th British Open reached its three-quarter mark on the Old Course, the presence of Pádraig Harrington, a 43-year-old millionaire with three Major titles on his CV, and of Paul Dunne, a 22-year-old amateur with a new Business Finance degree in his back pocket and chasing his dream, on the leaderboard further emphasised the rude health of Irish golf.
Although Rory McIlroy, the world number one, was absent and unable to defend his title in continuing his rehabilitation from a ruptured ATFL ankle ligament, and Shane Lowry, the highest-ranked Irishman in the field missed the cut, life has gone on and the wheel has been kept turning by the endeavours of Harrington and, more improbably, Dunne.
And, yet, as he looked down from his seat and answered questions from the world’s print media and did his round of television and radio interviews, Dunne remembered who had started this modern Irish relationship with the Major championships; remembered who had been the catalyst for a golden generation.
It was Harrington who set the ball rolling with his win in the Open at Carnoustie in 2007; and, as a 14-year-old teenager, Dunne watched it all unfold at home in Greystones.
“(Pádraig’s) been probably the most influential person in Irish golf, definitely in modern history anyway. I’ve watched those videos over and over again, so has everyone in my family I think. I’ve always looked up to Pádraig. He’s been such a great ambassador for Irish golf, carries himself so well, practices hard. He’s always someone that I’ve looked up to,” said Dunne.
For his part, Harrington claimed what Dunne had done so far was “phenomenal . . . his first round score was a tremendous achievement, then to back it up and shoot another 69 in the second round was really gutsy and, now, to go out there and be leading the tournament, you can’t take that away from him ever. He’s led the Open Championship a long way into the event as an amateur, that’s as rare as it comes . . . hopefully he continues to play great. If I don’t win, I hope he does. It is certainly not beyond belief to see him continue on and win it from here.”
Lost innocence
Harrington’s re-emergence as a Major contender is, in itself, a storyline that intrigues. In the run-up to this championship, he had talked about losing the innocence that was part of his make-up when he won his first Claret Jug at Carnoustie and successfully defended at Birkdale the following year.
Had he rediscovered that lost innocence?
“No,” he replied, expanding: “I have to find a new way of playing golf. I’m not the person I was ten years ago. We all gain experience. We all gain some scar tissue with that experience, and you have to deal with who you are now. I like the idea of it. I like the challenge. It’s a new challenge, and that keeps me motivated. But clearly before I won my first Majors, I was on an upward curve. Once you’ve won them, you can’t win your first Major a second time, can you? So I peaked. I hope I’ll peak again, but I’m sure enjoying trying to find a new way of playing golf with the new person I am, the sort of more experienced guy, and as I said, not as young and naive.”
In his own third round, Harrington – who carded a 65 for 206, two shots behind the leading trio of Dunne, Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day – was like a player rejuvenated, back in the thick of the chase and in contention again.
There were shots that he plucked from his armoury that demonstrated his own guts, like the 4-iron he hit from the rough on the wrong side of the sixth fairway when playing the 13th hole.
“It was a nice shot, because it was a blind shot and it was beautiful. I said to my caddie, ‘I did exactly as I wanted to, so if it doesn’t finish close to the hole, it’s your fault’. It was the nicest shot I hit all day,” he confessed.
As it happened, he didn’t manage to hole the 12-footer for birdie there. The manner of the shot itself was justification to the form he was in and, later, on the 16th, a 40-footer dropped into the cup for his seventh birdie of a bogey-free round.
His advantage
As a three-time Major champion and a two-time British Open winner, Harrington will be looking to use that know-how and experience to his advantage.
“I can’t tell what anybody else is thinking and how they’re feeling, but, in my own head, I’ll be using it as, not as motivation, but certainly telling myself that I know what I’m doing and I’ve done it before”.
Harrington is pretty much double Dunne’s age, but the two head into the final round of the Open championship with the same goal and with mutual respect. This time, they’ll be out for themselves; but, if it is not to be, they’ll be hoping the other finishes the job.
