World No 7

The man with the silliest walk in golf - think of a puppet being pulled from side to side - is a major winner. Padraig Harrington edged out Sergio GarcÍa in a four-hole play-off at Carnoustie in July to win the Open and become the first European winner of a major title since 1999. His victory gave Ireland their first winner since 1947 and celebrations went on well into the week, especially at his home in Dublin.

“The first drink I had was a beer straight out of the Claret Jug,” Harrington said after his nerve-racking victory. “I only had a couple of drinks, though. I was flying, anyway, and there was no need for any outside help. I was in a good mood and will be for the next week, next year or maybe even ten years.”

Harrington, who probably had a nasty hangover because he rarely drinks alcohol, is one of the most popular players on either side of the Atlantic. He is cheered everywhere he goes in the United States, where his cousin, Joey, is a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons American football team.

Amiable and as easygoing off the course as you would imagine, Harrington’s laid-back exterior masks a fierce competitive spirit. One of the greatest scramblers around, he is hugely resilient and to think, for a long time, the Dubliner, who qualified as an accountant before making it as a professional golfer, was regarded as a choker. His detractors pointed to his 30 runners-up finishes, but Harrington’s Open triumph was his nineteenth tournament win, including two in the US. If anything, the near-misses show how consistent he is and he has been an integral part of the Europe team in the past four Ryder Cups.

Like most Irishmen, Harrington is a fine player when it is windy - “growing up in Ireland, you learn how to play the wind; or if you don’t, you don’t play golf” - but he has never done that well at the more enclosed Wentworth. “I go there every year and beat myself up for four days and it does nothing for my confidence,” he said when he skipped the BMW Championship there in 2004. He was, however, runner-up to Ian Woosnam at the World Match Play in 2001.

A series of injuries after a long, hard season forced him to take a two-week break last month on doctors’ orders, but the confidence of being an Open champion is impossible to underestimate and few will try harder than him over the next week.

Factfile

Age: 36 Nationality: Irish Wins: 20 Major wins: 1 (Open 2007) Major record in 2007: Masters: tied-seventh; US Open: missed cut; Open: winner; US PGA: tied-42nd How he qualified for World Match Play: Second on Major Championship ranking Previous WMP experience: Five times