COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Padraig Harrington’s first two U.S. Senior Open titles weren’t decided until the final hole.
His record-tying third-place finish was drama-free as he reached the back nine on Sunday.
Harrington shot a final-round 66 at Scioto Country Club to win by four strokes and become the fourth golfer to defend his U.S. Senior Open title.
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The 54-year-old Irishman also joins Miller-Barber as the only three-time winners in the tournament’s 46-year history.
“I like setting records and being a part of it is a big deal. It just shows you how difficult it is,” Harrington said after winning his fourth senior major. “You watch the players come in and you kind of realize that you have a unique chance to win these tournaments. They told me and the other players that 56-57 is the winning percentage and then it goes downhill quickly.
“But that’s what I thought and felt. You only have a certain amount of time to win a major on the senior tour because you’re not getting older, you’re getting new players coming in.”
Harrington is also the only golfer to win back-to-back U.S. Senior Opens, joining Barber (1985), Gary Player (1988) and Allen Doyle (2006).
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Harrington finished at 12-under 268 with birdies on his first two holes, four birdies and just one bogey. Third-round leader Stewart Cink finished runner-up for the second year in a row. Cink bogeyed two of his first three holes and struggled with accuracy for most of the day, shooting a 71 to finish at 8 under 272.
“I feel great, but there wasn’t the usual drama towards the end,” said Harrington, who won by one stroke in 2022 and 2025. “I knew I had a great lead so I was able to play to the middle of the green and hit some shots. I went home and hit some big shots to let off all the stress.”
This is Harrington’s 12th PGA Tour Champions victory, and his first since the Senior British Open last July.
George McNeil, another member of the Harrington-Sink group, shot a 71 to finish at 6-under 274. Ian Poulter (67) was fourth at 5-under 275, followed by Retief Goossen (67), Jamie Donaldson (68) and Paul Stankowski (69) at 4-under 276.
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Cink hit just 2 of 7 fairways on the front nine, ending his chances of becoming the first player to win three senior majors in one year.
“It’s always fun to go all the way to the end when there’s so much at stake. Today we played so badly that the championship was on the line, but we were still fighting hard for second place,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a day where I felt like it was difficult from start to finish. But today we did it. The scorecard speaks for itself.”
Sink had a one-stroke lead after 54 holes, but Harrington took the lead with five swings in the first three holes. This was the second race in a row that the race started early despite the weather.
Harrington started by sinking a 15-foot putt on the par 4 to tie with Cink. He then hit his second shot to within three feet of the cup on the second par-4 hole to take a two-stroke lead and easily make birdie, but Sink made bogey.
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After Harrington made bogey on the par-5 sixth, Cink birdied the par-4 seventh to close the lead by two points.
Momentum shifted back to Harrington on the par-4 eighth. Cinque selected his driver off the tee, but it landed hot on the left side of the fairway, bounced hard several times, and rolled into the creek on the right side of the fairway.
Sink ended up with a bogey, and Harrington sank a 30-foot birdie putt to double his advantage.
“It was definitely a crusher. I wasn’t hitting a lot of good tee balls, so I finally got my tee ball straight, and I hit a great ball, and I got a penalty shot, and Padraig made the putt,” Cink said. “We live in the present, so we don’t always feel that kind of change in momentum, but looking back, I’m sure it probably has.”
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
