Pádraig hogs headlines around the globe

John O'Sullivanlooks at how some of the world's English-language newspapers reported Pádraig Harrington's magnificent victory at Royal Birkdale

THE PRIMARY golfing story for the South China Morning Postcentred on Liang Wenchong pronouncing his happiness after wrapping up his British Open campaign but for the majority of the world's leading newspapers, the success of Ireland's Pádraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale captured the headlines.

Harrington's brilliant defence of the title drew lavish praise as did his comportment in accepting the verbal bouquets and also deflecting a little of the spotlight to the man with whom he spent four-and-a-half hours on Sunday, the 53-year-old Greg Norman.

Some opted for a slightly whimsical view. The Chicago Tribune'sEd Sherman, under the headline, "Harrington overcomes injury to win British Open", noted: "If you want to look smart predicting the winner of the USPGA Championship next month, go with the player who is on the verge of skipping the tournament because of an injury. There's a trend going on here . . . First Tiger Woods won the US Open on a broken leg. Then Sunday, Pádraig Harrington won his second straight British Open with a sore right wrist. Harrington's finish was so impressive it should offset any talk of what would have happened had Woods been in the tournament.

"Woods doesn't have a great track record in poor weather. He would have been hard-pressed to finish three over, as Harrington did, in the high wind and rain. Also, cut Greg Norman some slack. Celebrate the fact that a 53-year-old finished third in a major. Even if he had played better, Norman wasn't going to beat Harrington on this day.

"No doubt there were plenty of celebrations in Ireland on Sunday night, and possibly a few here, too, as Harrington represents Chicago-based Wilson Golf."

The Los Angeles Timesran the headline, "Irish eyes smile again as Pádraig Harrington keeps claret jug with 2nd straight British Open", with Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson relaying what Harrington said to Norman when they shook hands and spoke briefly walking the 18th fairway.

Ferguson wrote: "He stopped Sunday to share the moment with Greg Norman, who knows this path all too well. Celebration for one, sympathy for the other. 'I did say to him coming down 18 that I was sorry it wasn't his story that was going to be told,' Harrington said. 'I did feel that, but I wanted to win myself. In this game, you have to take your chances when you get them.' Norman played a familiar role as the tragic figure."

In the same newspaper Chuck Culpepper wrote: "In a corner of the locker room at Royal Birkdale, all these years later, Greg Norman resumed the practice of a rare art he long since mastered, the gallant handling of galling defeat. . . . as on so many 20th-century Sundays exasperating enough to rate cringe-worthy, answered question after question . . . 'I'm not as disappointed as I was in the '80s and '90s, that's for sure,' he said."

Of Harrington Culpepper wrote: "All the suspense drained out of the dunes on the Irish Sea and instead cast the light on Harrington. And when the light went on the 36-year-old Irishman who looked positively mad in the sunshine playing in short sleeves in wretched wind, it found one of the better rounds of the golfing decade, a glowing one-under-par journey forged with a posture brimming with a defending champion's know-how."

The New York Timesran with "Steadiness Beats Sentiment as Harrington Prevails". Larry Dorman encapsulated the victory, "By doing what major championship winners do best, Pádraig Harrington of Ireland won the 137th British Open . . . He faltered but did not fall, stared down defeat without blinking, overcame his own mistakes, ignored an aching right wrist and outlasted his opponents."

In the San Francisco ChronicleRon Kroichick wrote under the strap line, "Harrington keeps jug": "Even in his moment of triumph, as he took an utterly stress-free stroll on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale, Pádraig Harrington knew he had interfered with a potentially historic sporting moment. Harrington put his arm around Greg Norman, shook his hand and thanked him for his company the previous four-and-a-half hours."

The Australian was supportive of Norman, generous regarding Harrington's display; the Sydney Morning Heraldcarried the headline, "No fairytale for Shark as Pádraig takes British Open", while the New Zealand Heraldwent with "Harrington Supreme in British Open."