Staff WriterThe Senior Open has a familiar face stalking its summit, and he’s got two Claret Jugs and a trail of tee-box tales to prove he belongs there.
Pádraig Harrington, the ever-gritty Irishman who never met a pressure putt he didn’t fancy, leads the ISPS HANDA Senior Open heading into the weekend after a well-measured 65 left him eight under on the legendary Old Course at Sunningdale.
This isn’t just another leaderboard shuffle. If Harrington pulls it off, he’ll become only the fifth man to win both The Open and the Senior Open — a club with fewer members than a royal box.
Having already bagged the U.S. Senior Open last month at altitude in Colorado, the 52-year-old is showing he can win in thin air and thick rough.
“It’s all about managing yourself more than anything else,” Harrington said earlier this week. Judging by his form, he’s managing just fine.
Pádraig Harrington: “I rode my luck a lot today. Got my head in the game. Did a lot of good stuff mentally. Short game was sharp. Made my birdies on those holes that you — two putt on 1, two putt on 9, two putt on 11, crazy kind of three putt on 15.
“But I did a good job, where I should make a score I scored, and then I got in trouble on plenty of other holes. Hit some recovery shots and managed my game, but I never showed much confidence out there at all in my swing at all.
“I obviously like these 72-hole ones and the bigger golf courses suit me. I’m glad to see there is a little bit of moisture on this course. It is starting to firm up a bit. As it’s gets a little shorter that advantage will be taken away from me. I seem to be scoring okay, so maybe I’ll do it a different way this time.”
One shot back is South Korea’s K.J. Choi, the defending champion and the man with a swing as smooth as molasses on a cold morning.
Choi looked poised to stretch clear after birdieing the 14th to hit nine under, but a couple of late bogeys on 16 and 17 handed the initiative back to Harrington.
Still, he’s in prime position to become the first player to retain a Senior Open title since Christy O’Connor Jnr two-and-a-half decades ago.
Breathing down both their necks, like a Viking with unfinished business, is Thomas Bjørn. The Dane, who captained Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 2018, turned in the round of the day — a sizzling 63 that included seven birdies and an eagle — to leapfrog 41 spots up the board. His reward? A seat at the contender’s table and a fair wind into the weekend.
Joining the fray at six under are a quartet of seasoned campaigners: Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Ricardo Gonzalez, and Australia’s Cameron Percy.
For Els and Leonard, both former Open champions, the motivation is clear — follow Harrington’s lead and complete the Open-Senior Open double. For Gonzalez and Percy, it’s a golden opportunity to rewrite their career résumés on a course that demands every shot in the book.
Lurking at five under are Aussie Stephen Allan and England’s Greg Owen, while four under sees a major-weighted logjam that includes Paul Lawrie, Corey Pavin, and Y.E. Yang — the man who famously stared down Tiger Woods at Hazeltine and didn’t blink.
With the sun set to shine and the Old Course set to bite, this Senior Open is shaping into a proper shootout. There’s experience, firepower, and no shortage of storylines. Just the way Harrington — and the fans — like it.
So buckle up. The weekend at Sunningdale isn’t just about who makes the fewest mistakes. It’s about who can summon the ghosts of Opens past, walk the tightrope, and finish the job. Harrington’s halfway there.
