From ESPN.com
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Truth be told, they were looking forward to a holiday this week, a visit to a new home they are building in North Carolina that will be their American base, a place where they could truly decompress and celebrate the Open Championship victory from a few weeks ago.
Now they have another trophy to haul around, and Caroline Harrington didn't quite know what to make of it all in the early evening chill at Oakland Hills Country Club.
"It's getting ridiculous," she said laughing, trying to keep track of children Paddy, 4, and Ciaran, 1, accepting unexpected congratulations all while the magnitude of husband Padraig's victory at the PGA Championship was still sinking in. "I'm just in shock. This is unbelievable."
Yes it is.
And no it's not.
Three weeks after playing what many believed to be the back nine of his life to win at Royal Birkdale, an exhausted Padraig Harrington was hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy and becoming the first European-born golfer since 1930 to win the PGA Championship.
That the Irishman did so while basically on fumes is the amazing thing.
Harrington was despondent on Friday after shooting 74, saying, "I'd just run out of steam. I did my best to be ready for the week, but clearly I'm not." On Sunday, he recalled, "I just couldn't get off the golf course fast enough. I was probably the only guy who finished bogey-bogey and thought he was doing pretty well.
"I was probably thinking of putting my clubs away for a week, which is something I almost never do."
Padraig Harrington shot a pair of 66s over the weekend to clinch his third major championship victory.
And yet if we have learned anything about Harrington, 36, it is that he is one of the most resilient players in the game today. He is not as gifted, nor does he possess the same skills as a Tiger Woods or a Phil Mickelson or even a Sergio Garcia, who was the tough-luck loser again on Sunday.
But the man has moxie. And that is why his victory comes as no surprise at all. The man loves it when his back his up against the wall. He shot a 4-under-par 66 to rally from three strokes back with nine holes to play, shooting another 32 on the back nine -- just like at Royal Birkdale -- to win by two strokes over Garcia and Ben Curtis.
"I just finished doing cartwheels," said Harrington's longtime coach, Bob Torrance, 76, when reached after midnight at his Scotland home. "The back nine was unbelievable. He holed some fantastic putts. And you have to do those things to win majors. He has gone well beyond and he is one of the top players in the world. He's just a great, unbelievable pressure player. Under the crush, he is just extremely good."
And that is exactly what Harrington relishes. He has now won three of the last six major championships -- not even Woods can say that, although he's missed the last two due to injury. Harrington undoubtedly took much from his Open victory last year in a playoff over Garcia at Carnoustie, and last month's four-shot win over Ian Poulter at Royal Birkdale.
There was some eeriness in the similarities between Harrington's win at Oakland Hills this week and his triumph in 2007 at Carnoustie.
On both occasions, he came from well back of Garcia and witnessed the Spaniard hit a shot that nearly went into the hole then caromed away after ricocheting off the flagstick.
Harrington also did his best impression of his final round at the seaside links where he made a mess of the 72nd hole. In both situations, despite the missteps, the Irishman ended the day raising a trophy.
"I felt an edge in terms of my experience," Harrington said. "I felt an edge in terms of my ability to take an opportunity when it comes around."
Harrington woke at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning in order to complete the rain-delayed third round and managed a 4-under-par 66 that included four straight birdies on the back nine. Caroline and the kids didn't bother to show up for the conclusion, knowing how burned out hubby was, figuring it was best to get ready for their vacation.
Even Padraig wasn't in the best of spirits after that 66, having just bogeyed the 18th hole to drop a shot he felt was crucial. He was looking forward to a nap before having to go at the monster that is Oakland Hills again.
"I'm not anywhere where I could be [mentally]," he said. "But who knows? Last round of a major, you don't know, I keep approaching every shot hopeful it will click into place."
It clicked into place several times Sunday, especially on the par-5 12th, where Harrington used the same 5-wood to hit a second shot toward the green that he used in clinching the victory on Royal Birkdale's 17th hole and made an eagle. This time it set up a birdie and the game was on over the last six holes.
Harrington birdied the 13th with a 15-foot putt, but bogeyed the 14th to fall a shot behind Garcia. They both parred No. 15, but when Garcia hit his approach in the water at the 16th, Harrington needed to get up and down from a bunker -- he holed a 20-foot par putt -- to remain tied for the lead.
Perhaps the putt of the tournament came at the par-3 17th, where Garcia had stuffed his approach shot inside of Harrington's shot that he believed was good enough to win him the tournament. Garcia was only 4 feet from the hole, while Harrington was 10 feet away.
"I knew I had the opportunity to get the putt in first," he said. "And that was important. I knew if I holed this, I probably would win the PGA."
He did hole it -- and Garcia missed. And when Harrington was able to coax in a 15-foot for par on the 18th green, it rendered Garcia's par putt meaningless. Unbeknownst to the Harringtons, who nervously sat behind the 18th green, Ben Curtis had bogeyed the 17th hole.
Harrington had won the PGA, becoming the first Irishman to accomplish the feat. He also became only the fourth European to win the title and one of just four players -- Walter Hagen (1924), Nick Price (1994) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2006) -- to win the Open Championship and the PGA Championship in the same year.
Now Harrington finds himself in some rare air. Ranked third in the world behind Woods and Mickelson, he joins only Lefty, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh as active players other than Woods (who has 14) with three major championships.
"I know I love the idea of the back nine of a major on Sunday," Harrington said. "I love it so much that I'm actually disappointed I'm seven months away from the next major. And I don't know what I'm going to do."
Well, Harrington will start by enjoying that long-planned family vacation in North Carolina, where he will look at plans for the new house, play with the kids, start thinking about the FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup. Maybe he'll dream about next year's Masters.
And, if so moved, he can celebrate by sipping his favorite beverage out of two trophies rather than one.
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.