First Irishman since Fred Daly (1947) to win Open

HARRINGTON BEATS GARCIA IN
FOUR-HOLE PLAY-OFF FOR TITLE

Carnoustie served up yet another amazing, unpredictable Open championship climax - and at the end of it Padraig Harrington had become Europe's first winner of a major since Paul Lawrie on the same course in 1999.
The 35-year-old Dubliner, first Republic of Ireland golfer ever to hold the Claret Jug and only the second Irishman, beat Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia by one shot in a four-hole play-off.
They had had 20 top 10 finishes in majors between them without a win, so the joy for Harrington when it was over was inevitably mixed with incredible relief.
Yet just over an hour earlier Harrington had looked crushed when, one ahead with one to play, he twice went in the Barry Burn for a double bogey 6 on the 18th - the hole, of course, Jean Van de Velde had triple-bogeyed eight years ago when three clear.
The 27-year-old American-based Spaniard needed to get a par 4 to win - he avoided the burn safely enough, but pulled his second into a greenside bunker, splashed out to eight feet and lipped out.
They tied on the seven under par total of 277, Harrington having come from six back with a 67 and Garcia, three clear of the field at the start of the day, managing only a 73.
Reprieved, Harrington immediately went two strokes ahead in the play-off, holing an eight-foot birdie putt on the first hole after his opponent had failed to get up and down from sand again. Incredibly, Garcia then hit the flagstick on the 248-yard 16th, their second, but they both came off with par 3s.
Crossing to the 461-yard 17th, they both parred again, although Harrington missed a six-foot chance to increase his lead to three - and back it was then to the dreaded 18th. He chose another of his woods on his return and he then decided to lay up short of the burn with his second.
Garcia was on in two, 25 feet from the flag, and there was a chance for him again when Harrington pulled his third 10 feet further away. The Irishman's par putt ran almost four feet past and Garcia, for the second time on the green, was inches away from making his - but Harrington holed and the title was his.
Ireland could claim something of a double whammy in the end for Rory McIlroy, from the Holywood club near Belfast, gained the silver medal as the leading amateur. In fact, he was the only amateur to survive the 36-hole cut so was always going to win the prestigious medal even before the third and fourth rounds were played.
And spare a thought for Andres Romero from the Argentine. He was two shots clear of the field with two holes to play and finished bogey 5, double-bogey 6 - three shots dropped and he finished on 278, only one behind the play-off pair.

+Fred Daly, the pro at Balmoral Golf Club, Northern Ireland, won the Open at Hoylake in 1946.

FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4 x 71)

277 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 69 73 68, 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 75 71 68 73. Harrington (£750,000) won four-hole stroke-play play-off, Garcia (£450,000).
278 Andres Romero (Arg) 71 70 70 67 (£290,000).
279 Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 70 68 69, Richard Green (Aus) 72 73 70 64 (£200,000 each).
280 Hunter Mahan (US) 73 73 69 65, Stewart Cink (US) 69 73 68 70 (£145,000 each).
281 Steve Stricker (US) 71 72 64 74, K J Choi (Kor) 69 69 72 71, Mike Weir (Can) 71 68 72 70, Ben Curtis (US) 72 74 70 65
282 Tiger Woods (US) 69 74 69 70, Jim Furyk (US) 70 70 71 71, Justin Rose 75 70 67 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 70 72 71, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 70 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 73 67 70, Paul Broadhurst 71 71 68 72.
283 Paul McGinley (Ire) 67 75 68 73.
284 Pat Perez (US) 73 70 71 70, Zach Johnson (US) 73 73 68 70, Rich Beem (US) 70 73 69 72
285 Chris DiMarco (US) 74 70 66 75, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 71 73 71, Mark Calcavecchia (US) 74 70 72 69, Jonathan Byrd (US) 73 72 70 70
286 Paul Casey 72 73 69 72, Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71 68 75, J J Henry (US) 70 71 71 74, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 72 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 70 72 71, Lucas Glover (US) 71 72 70 73, Ian Poulter 73 73 70 70
287 Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 73 72 74
288 Nick Watney (US) 72 71 70 75, Charley Hoffman (US) 75 69 72 72, Shaun Micheel (US) 70 76 70 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69 73 71, Boo Weekley (US) 68 72 75 73, Lee Westwood 71 70 73 74, Mark Foster 76 70 73 69
289 Rory McIlroy 68 76 73 72, Nick Dougherty 71 74 69 75, Ryan Moore (US) 72 72 74 71
290 Arron Oberholser (US) 73 71 72 74, John Senden (Aus) 72 74 71 73, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 75 73 72, Ross Bain 73 71 72 74
291 Jerry Kelly (US) 74 70 71 76, Won Joon Lee (Aus) 73 73 70 75
293 Kevin Stadler (USA) 75 71 74 73, Tom Lehman (US) 73 73 74 73
294 Brian Davis 74 72 71 77, David Howell 72 74 73 75, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 75 74 75, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72 77 75
295 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 78 72 77, Anders Hansen (Den) 72 73 74 76, Scott Verplank (USA) 72 73 72 78
296 Mark O'Meara (US) 74 72 76 74, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74 77 74, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 72 76 76
297 Jon Bevan 73 73 79 72, Luke Donald 70 76 73 78
298 Sandy Lyle 73 73 73 79, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69 76 79
299 Sean O'Hair (USA) 71 75 74 79, Alastair Forsyth 70 71 78 80
300 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74 76 80, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 71 79 78.