Now Harrington tops the Golf Writers'
poll on this side of the Atlantic

Padraig Harrington has won the Golf Writers’ Trophy for the second year in succession. The 37-year-old Irishman, who retained his Open crown and then added the USPGA Championship within three magical weeks in the summer, achieved an overwhelming victory ahead of Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Annika Sorenstam.
Harrington, who typically is not resting on his laurels and is already working towards his 2009 campaign, becomes only the third player to win the Golf Writers’ Trophy in consecutive years, following Tony Jacklin in 1969 and ’70 and Peter Oosterhuis in 1973 and ’74.
Jacklin won the Open in ’69 and the US Open the following year while Oosterhuis was in the process of winning the European Order of Merit four years in a row.
“It just shows how rare it is to peak two years running,” Harrington said. “To have one great year and win a major is fantastic but to follow it up by winning another two majors this year was beyond anything you could have hoped for.
“What is so satisfying is that in years to come people will look at the trophy and ask, ‘What did he do to win it twice in succession?’ and remember your achievements, just as you look at Tony Jacklin’s name twice and recall his majors or Peter Oosterhuis and his order of merit wins.
“There will be a time I can sit back and enjoy it all but this is not that time. I have really appreciated all the accolades that I have received, especially at this time of year, but I am already back in work mode. I am back in the gym and I had my coach over last week so I am working hard again.”
Harrington has already been named the European Tour’s Golfer of the Year as well as collecting the Shot of the Year award for his five-wood to three feet at the 71st hole of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Three weeks later the Dubliner became the first European for 78 years to win the Wanamaker Trophy at the USPGA. Only Colin Montgomerie in 1996 has previously won the triple crown of the Golf Writers’ Trophy, the Golfer of the Year and Shot of the Year awards.
A few days ago Harrington was named Player of the Year by the United States Golf Writers' Association and also by his peers on the US PGA Tour.
One of the hardest working professionals in the game, Harrington says he has come to accept that things outside of his control have played a vital role in his success.
“In each of my three major wins something happened that I could not have bargained for,” he explained. “At Carnoustie it was my son running onto the green on the 72nd hole and taking my mind off what had just happened. At Birkdale it was the wrist injury taking the stress out of defending my title, while at the USPGA I got dehydrated but the rain delay on the Saturday gave me a chance to recover.
“Expectations for next year are going to be higher than ever and that is something I have to manage. In the past I never believed the expectations people had for me and my way of managing that was to underplay them.
“Yet when you become a major champion you put yourself under pressure to play to a higher standard. It was something I struggled with in the first half of the year. Knowing you are doing it is one thing, avoiding it is another.
“My problem is that I can end up being too committed and working too hard, which led to the injury before the Open. But you cannot control everything. You need to find the routine that works for you but know when you have done everything you can. After that you have to go with the flow.
“Next year there is going to be even more attention at the Masters and with the ‘Paddy Slam’. But to go into any tournament and win on demand is very special, let alone at a major. You cannot judge yourself by results in the short term. What if someone else has the week of their life? As long as I stick to the same processes and keep getting myself into contention I am happy to see how it works out.”
The Golf Writers’ Trophy was first awarded in 1951 and honours the individual, born or resident in Europe, or team deemed to have made the most outstanding contribution to golf each year. Harrington took over 90 per cent of first-place votes, with Karlsson, the first Swede to win the European Order of Merit, in second place and Sorenstam, in her last season of full-time competition, in third place.
Also featuring in the poll were the Scotland team which won the Eisenhower Trophy, Spain’s world No.2 Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, the leading point-scorer at the Ryder Cup and runner-up at the Open.