Pádraig Harrington won his second Senior Major of the season at the ISPS HANDA Senior Open.
Pádraig Harrington became the fifth player in history to win both The Open Championship and the ISPS HANDA Senior Open as he cruised to a three-shot victory in Europe’s only Senior Major Championship, at Sunningdale.
The Irishman held a two-shot overnight lead, but he quickly extended that as he got off to a dream start with an eagle at the first and maintained his command to sign for a closing -3 67.
On another day of low scoring over the Old Course, he carded an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys to reach a winning total of -16, with fellow former Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn and American Justin Leonard locked in a T2.
Harrington joins Bob Charles, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Darren Clarke as a winner of the Claret Jug and the Senior Open trophy.
Key facts
• His 11th PGA TOUR Champions victory on his 59th start
• Becomes the fifth player in history to have won both The Open and the Senior Open, joining Bob Charles, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Darren Clarke (won The Open in 2007 and 2008)
• His third Senior Major Championship, adding to his two U.S. Senior Open victories (2022 and 2025)
• The second Irishman to win the Senior Open, joining two-time winner Christy O’Connor Jnr (1999 and 2000)
• His second win of the season, adding to his U.S. Senior Open victory last month
• His 43rd professional victory. Harrington is a 15-time winner on the DP World Tour, with three further PGA TOUR victories
• This is his fourth appearance at the ISPS HANDA Senior Open. He has finished runner-up twice, losing in a play-off in 2023 and T5
• Moves to second on the Charles Schwab Cup Standings
edit >>> Padraig (Patrick, Paddy) clearly loves golf, his constant enthusiasm for the game, with which he has both struggled and soared is clearly evident, especially now at 53 since he joined the Senior Tour in 2022 , winning the US Senior Open that year.
He was 25 before he turned pro in 1995/96 on the European Tour at a time when Monty was winning all of his Orders of Merit, and Faldo was winning Opens and Masters.
Suffice to say he has won 43 tournaments world wide and finished 2nd or T10 an astonishing amount since. with his biggest years 2007, 2008 when he won back to back Opens, then the PGA Championship 3 weeks later in 2008 becoming the PGA Tour Player of the Year and the European Tour Player of the Year, and world #3.
He has played in 6 Ryder Cups, and was captain in 2020. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2024. He has spent 300 weeks in the world's top 10. He has been owgr #3 and now at #579
There is much more to Paddy's story, like his Dublin childhood sweetheart and wife since 1997 Caroline, but apart from that explosion in his career 2007/8 he has flown a lot under the radar, always tinkering with his swing, out of the top 100, lost in the pack at owgr 385th in 2014, but playing, always playing, even now between 3 tours DP/PGA/Champions he shows up every week somewhere in the world, still talking up his game, giving widely popular lessons on social media, and now in the bright spotlight as one of the headliners on the Champions.
A classic late bloomer and a very worthy Hall of Famer.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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