By Brian Keogh

Padraig Harrington cradled his young son in his arms and asked: “Who’s the champ?”

The Dubliner, 35, had just beaten Bradley Dredge in sudden-death hole to become the first home winner of The Irish Open for 25 years.

And three year old Patrick replied: “You are.”

It was no wonder that Harrington beamed from ear-to-ear after surviving an amazing comeback by Dredge, who clawed back a four-stroke deficit on Adare Manor’s back nine before crashing to defeat at the riverside 18th at the first play-off hole.

The pressure on Harrington was immense as he took a three stroke lead into the final round and eventually carded a one under par 71 to Dredge’s 68 to leave them tied at the top on five under par.

Defeat stared him in the face but the Dubliner showed why he is about to return to the world’s top 10 today when he carved out a steely par five to become Irish golf’s most prolific winner since Christy O’Connor with 11 European Tour victories.

Dredge plugged his third in the bank just feet over the water and after hacking his way onto the river bank, he overshot the green with his fifth and shook hands after Harrington had tapped in for his par to claim a momentous victory and a cheque for €416,660.

Harrington said: “I am thrilled. It is a great feeling. I am starting to get emotional. It is quite a relief now to have won it. Bradley played great obviously and I found it difficult today.

“All the way through I was more nervous than I have been in many a tournament and I had to stay focussed and stay calm.”

The Dubliner played the front nine in two under par 34, mixing bogeys at the second and fifth with birdies at the third, seventh and eighth followed by an amazing eagle at the par-five ninth where he drilled a 245-yard five-wood to 12 feet.

That put him four shots clear of the dogged Welshman - but it was only the start of a dramatic afternoon in front of 23,150 entralled Irish fans.

Harrington said: “Bradley kept coming at me and making lots of birdies. Certainly his birdie on 17 was a body blow. But I was trying to keep a level head.

“It is difficult coming down the 18th with a difficult tee shot and second shot. I feel sorry for Bradley because that is twice that we have gone head to head and he has come off second best but I am sure there are plenty of wins to come for him.

“It is the fifth biggest tournament for me to win, no doubt about it. I can win the four majors and your home Open is the next biggest after that.

“The fans were absolutely fantastic and I bogeyed the second hole but the applause I got going to the third gave me a huge boost.”

Dredge was gutted to lose out to Harrington again after being denied last year’s Dunhill Links title in a final round battle at St Andrews.

Dredge said: “Before I went out I knew I had to shoot a good score and had a good run at the end of the front nine. I kept my head down and played by own game and it is just frustrating to give it to him the way I did in the end.”
Having opened up that massive four shot lead at the turn, the back nine was a nightmare for Harrington, who three putted the 11th and could only par the long 12th after driving into the left rough.

Dredge birdied there to get to within a two shots on four under but had to chip out of the woods at the next and dropped three behind again.

With just four holes to play and a three-shot lead, Harrington looked a certain winner but there was plenty more drama to come as the Welshman chipped in for birdie at the 14th to close the gap to two strokes once more.

Dredge then birdied the 15th from 10 feet to get within a stroke again but it looked all over again at the par three 16th where the man from Tredegar took three to get down from the fringe.

Two clear again, Harrington walked off the 17th all square on five under when Dredge stuffed his approach to two feet and Harrington overshot the green with a wedge from the fairway and failed to save par.

The 18th was halved in par fives with Dredge two putting from 40 feet and Harrington missing a 30 footer for the title.

In the play-off both men drove into the right rough but Dredge’s lay-up ran into the deep rough on the edge of the riverbank, leaving him an impossible third.

Harrington almost followed him, coming up inches short of the deep rough and after watching his opponent come up short with his approach, he fired his third onto the back of the green and two-putted for a famous victory.

SCOREBOARD
283 - P HARRINGTON (Ireland) 73 68 71 71, B Dredge (Wales) 75 71 69 68 (Harrington won play-off at first extra hole; Harrington €416,660, Dredge €277,770).
287 - S Wakefield (England) 70 72 73 72 (€156,500).
288 - A Romero (Argentina) 68 74 75 71, L Oosthuizen (South Africa) 69 74 73 72, R Green (Australia) 71 73 72 72 (€106,166.67 each).
290 - S Dyson (England) 68 78 75 69, P Hanson (Sweden) 68 78 73 71, F Molinari (Italy) 71 74 73 72, R Jacquelin (France) 74 72 72 72 (€60,875 each).
292 - J Kingston (South Africa) 69 78 76 69 (€46,000).
293 - J Sandelin (Sweden) 72 78 75 68, A Noren (Sweden) 74 75 75 69, D Lynn (England) 72 75 76 70, C Cevaer (France) 75 75 73 74, M Warren (Scotland) 76 73 73 71, J Heath (England) 74 70 77 72, C Nilsson (Sweden) 69 74 76 74, G MURPHY (Ireland) 74 72 73 74, D McGRANE (Ireland) 75 72 70 76 (€35,611.11 each).
294 - MA Jimenez (Spain) 74 73 77 70, Y-E Yang (Korea) 72 77 71 74, J Bickerton (England) 75 74 75 70, S Lyle (Scotland) 72 74 76 72, O Wilson (England) 73 75 74 72, L Westwood (England) 71 77 72 74, P Price (Wales) 72 73 74 75, J Randhawa (India) 76 70 73 75, J Backstrom (Sweden) 71 71 76 76, A Forsyth (Scotland) 72 72 74 76 (€25,625 each).
295 - G McDOWELL (Ireland) 74 74 77 70, M Pilkington (Wales) 73 76 76 70, D Park (Wales) 72 78 74 71, M Jonzon (Sweden) 72 72 77 74 (€20,375 each).
296 - M Kaymer (Germany) 74 77 77 68, M Vibe-Hastrup (Denmark) 74 74 74 74 (€18,500 each).
297 - S Hansen (Denmark) 73 72 82 70, R Cabrera Bello (Spain) 79 69 78 71, S Gallacher (Scotland) 76 73 77 71, R Sterne (South Africa) 71 79 75 72, M Foster (England) 73 77 75 72, C Cevaer (France) 75 75 73 74, D HIGGINS (Ireland) 75 70 76 76, I Garrido (Spain) 77 71 73 76 (€16,000 each).
298 - S Khan (England) 71 79 77 71, S Kjeldsen (Denmark) 74 75 77 72, A Canete (Argentina) 72 75 78 73, F Andersson Hed (Sweden) 76 75 74 73, E Rush (England) 77 73 74 74, M Lafeber (Holland) 75 75 72 76, P Gustafsson (Sweden) 68 75 78 77 (€12,250 each).
299 - G Lockerbie (England) 76 75 77 71, M Eliasson (Sweden) 74 74 77 74, E Canonica (Italy) 75 76 74 74, B Rumford (Australia) 80 71 73 75, T Bjorn (Denmark) 75 73 75 76, A Marshall (England) 76 72 72 79 (€9,000 each).
300 - S Struver (Germany) 73 74 79 74, S Gallacher (Scotland) 76 73 77 71, P McGINLEY (Ireland) 72 76 77 75 (€7,250 each).
301 - S O'Hara (Scotland) 73 76 78 74, S Jeppesen (Sweden) 72 74 77 78 (€6,625 each).
303 - C Hanell (Sweden) 74 77 79 73, A Rocha (Brazil) 70 81 77 75, T Levet (France) 74 76 77 76, M Erlandsson (Sweden) 76 72 76 79 (€5,875 each).
304 - G Orr (Scotland) 76 75 79 74, J-B Gonnet (France) 75 74 74 81 (€5,125 each).
305 - M Richardson (England) 79 72 79 75, S Kapur (India) 77 74 79 75, K Ferrie (England) 74 75 80 76, M Zions (Australia) 71 78 80 76 (€4,204.25 each).
307 - P MURRAY (Ireland, am) 76 72 79 80.
314 - P Hedblom (Sweden) 75 74 82 83 (€3,744).