The Eddie Mullins Invitational Golf Tournament tees it up this morning at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. Mullins, the colorful owner of Adams Springs, is a San Francisco businessman with a great love for the game of golf, even if it means defying his doctor”s order following recent back surgery.
While the Mullins Tourney field will include the usual grouping of local Adams Springs golfers, it will also have a heavy contingent of San Francisco Irish, including Father Brendan McBride, a scratch golfer and the chaplain of the 2006 Ryder Cup team contested at Ireland”s K Club, accordionist Kevin McCormack from Dublin, and a host of old country Irish who still speak with beautiful brogues. My 80-something parents would feel very comfortable at the Mullins Invitational even though they originated from County Mayo, Ireland”s equivalent of the wrong side of the tracks.
Last year at the tournament the talk was fast and furious on the 19th hole about the good fortune of Irish golfer Padraig Harrington, the 2007 British Open champion who hit two balls into the water at Carnoustie”s final hole and still survived a playoff with Sergio Garcia. The prevailing theme was that Harrington could have easily suffered the same fate as Frenchman Jean Van de Velde. As you may recall, Van de Velde crashed and burned at Carnoustie”s 18th hole in 1999 and then lost in the playoff. As you do recall, Van de Velde has done little of consequence since then, a mere golfing footnote just like Mike Donald (1990 U.S. Open), Brian Watts (1998 British Open), and Thomas Levet (2002 British Open).
As for Padraig Harrington, it has been a year to remember. Avoiding the pitfalls of being the next Jean Van de Velde, he is now the holder of three major titles, a number equal to major winners Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els. Because he”s a whole lot smarter than Mickelson and has a much smoother putting stroke than Singh and Els, it is easy to assume that Harrington will add to his major championship total over the next few years. In light of the way he sealed the deal this summer at the British Open and the PGA Championship, it is also easy to assume that Harrington may have what it takes to compete on an equal footing with Tiger Woods in major championships over the next few years.
Born in 1971 on Dublin”s south side, Padraig Harrington was the youngest of five sons born to an Irish policeman who played Gaelic football, was a boxer and a hurler, and played golf to a 5-handicap. Padraig played youth golf, was an accomplished amateur who won the Sherry Cup and the West of Ireland Amateur, and was a member of the winning Great Britain and Ireland 1995 Walker Cup team. Unlike many successful European pros such as Bernhard Langer, Sergio Garcia, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal, all of whom joined the European Tour as teenagers, Harrington waited until he was 25 to join the play-for-pay ranks. He studied accounting in college and worked in the business world. He passed the Irish equivalent of the Certified Public Accountants exam.
Harrington”s rookie season was in 1996 and he had a breakthrough win in May at the Peugot Spanish Open, beating Gordon Brand Jr. by four shots. He would remain competitive on the European Tour over the next four years although he was winless during that time. However, Harrington was consistently improving and in 1999 he finished in second place four times. He worked extensively on his ball striking with teaching pro Bob Torrance, the father of Ryder Cup member and captain Sam Torrance. Harrington”s ball striking kept improving, he was a frequent presence on the practice range, and as always his putting stroke was golden.
Harrington made the 1999 Ryder Cup team, and while the Euros lost on the final day at the Country Club just outside Boston, it was a positive career experience punctuated by a singles win over Mark O”Meara. From that point forward, Harrington”s career was a steady club. He won twice in Europe in 2000, won once in 2001, and twice more in each of the 2002 and 2003 seasons. He was also winning on different types of courses in different places such as the Dunhill Cup at St. Andrew”s in Scotland, the Hong Kong Open, the German Masters, and the Brazilian Open.
In 2005, Harrington started to hold dual membership on both the European and American tours. In March of 2005, he beat Vijay Singh and Joe Ogilvie in a sudden-death playoff to capture the Honda Classic. Three months later he dunked a 70-foot eagle putt on the final hole at Westchester to win the Barclays Classic, defeating Jim Furyk in spectacular fashion.
In 2006, Harrington won the European Tour”s Order of Merit and also became the highest-ranked European golfer on the Official World Golf Rankings. Becoming a golfer of worldwide note, he started to receive invitations to high-paying tournaments on other circuits, winning Japan”s Dunlop Phoenix Tournament.
The next step was taken at the 2007 Open Championship. Trailing by six shots entering the final round, Harrington posted a Sunday 67 in spite of a watery final-hole double bogey. He won the four-hole playoff over Sergio, setting the tone with a birdie on the first playoff hole. He trailed by two shots through three rounds in the 2008 Open, shot 69 with a 32 over the final nine, and made up six shots to win by four over Ian Poulter and five over Greg Norman. Three weeks later, Harrington was behind by a bundle in the rain-delayed PGA Championship. To be exact, he was six shots behind J.B. Holmes. Harrington posted a pair of 66s on Sunday to win by two strokes over Sergio and Ben Curtis.
Obviously Tiger Woods will return to the golf wars sometime in 2009. Anthony Kim has shown that he is a star in the making. Hunter Mahan and Sergio Garcia should contend in majors. Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and others still have a lot of game. However, at this moment, Ireland”s Padraig Harrington is the best golfer in the world. Even the San Francisco Irish can agree on that.
