Golf Special Report: Padraig Harrington- Career Highlights (Part I)
Padraig Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who has truly made his mark in the golfing world. The list of his achievements and wins appears never ending. Looking at his career highlights in depth, it becomes clearer on how talented this Irishman is.
After a great amateur career, Harrington became a professional in 1995. It was that same year that Harrington won the Walker Cup with the British and Irish Team. Compared to other golfers, Padraig turned professional at a late age.
The highlights of Harrington’s early years include the Irish Open win at Fota Island and then the 1995 Closted Title at Lahinch. The Irish man has a list of individual honours even before turning professional. He was the highest ranked amateur in Ireland
for two years in a row. He still holds a few amazing course records throughout Ireland.
His official professional career initiated with success at the European Tour School where he also attained his Full Tour Card in 1996. He made the cut in all of his first nine European Tour events. His maiden year on the European Tour went great. His first
title came sooner than he expected, when he won the Spanish Open. He also had five top ten finishes that amazing first year. He achieved his victory in a very trendy way and was leading from the front for most of the tournament. That year he finished 11th
place in the Order of Merit. His achievement hence earned him places in the Irish Dunhill Cup and World Cup teams. Having a first year like this is truly an amazing task.
His victories progressed into the next year when he finished 5th place in the 1997 British Open at Troon after posting a final round 67. In addition, his six top ten finishes include the second place finish at the Volvo Masters. This finish hoisted
Padraig to number 8 in the 1997 Order of Merit. It is no surprise that he was again selected for the Alfred Dunhill Cup teams and the Irish World Cup. Paired with Paul McGinley in the World cup, the Irishmen won the nation’s first Cup for 39 years that year.
A year later, a win in the 1998 Irish PGA Championship and four top ten finishes, Padraig was on top of his game.
In 1999, Padraig achieved one of his dreams regarding his career. He appeared in the Ryder Cup for the first time representing Europe. Harrington had to struggle a lot in order to get his spot in the team. He finished in second position in each of the last
tournaments he played. In his first Ryder Cup, he won his singles match against Mark O’Meara and gave one of the most daring performances to recent times. Even though the Europeans lost last year, Harrington’s performance provided some relevant support to
their diminishing position.
The Big 2000 started with a bang for the Irish man. He ended the run of his nine runner-up spots since the first European Tour win and claimed his second title. The second win came from the Brazil Sao Paulo 500 Years Open right after he narrowly lost a playoff
for the Rio de Janeiro tournament. The first two US Majors that Harrington played in, The Masters and The US Open, Padraig gave decent performance in both. Being on top of the leader board throughout the tournament, he finished as joint top European in joint
5th. In 2000, he also won the he BBVA Turespana Masters de Madrid. His performance that year led him to qualify for the Cisco World Match Play, the Dunhill Cup and also the World Cup.
The next year was clearly the best Harrington ever had. He was the runner up in seven occasions and ended the season with a victory at the Volvo Masters in Jerez. That year, Harrington also had the highest stroke average and Greens in Regulation. On a role,
Harrington was then ranked 10th in the world.
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