Is Padraig Harrington the greatest Irish sportsman?
Delighted Open champion Padraig Harrington with the Claret Jug trophy as he arrived home at Weston airport in Dublin
This is the question which has kept us rocking back and forth on our barstools after Padraig Harrington's unbelievable back-to-back successes in the British Open.
Well, the argument is likely to rise another decibel or two this week as the Dubliner, 37 last Thursday, tries to perform further Major championship heroics in the US PGA at Oakland Hills.
So, here are a couple of pertinent questions and answers to get you warmed-up for the great ad-break debate during TV coverage from Detroit.
Q: What's the big deal about winning the British Open twice in a row?
A: Winning the 2007 Open in heart-stopping fashion had been a massive achievement but the defence of his title at Royal Birkdale has taken Harrington to a new level in world golf.
After waiting 60 years for someone to emulate Fred Daly's solitary Major success at Hoylake in 1947, suddenly two Open titles come along at once.
Yet Claret Jugs certainly don't turn up like buses. Massive pressure bears down on the reigning champion at golf's Majors, so Harrington's defence had to be as brilliant as the gleaming trophy itself.
It's placed him in pretty exalted company. Harrington's only the fourth player to retain a Major title in the past 20 years. The others were Curtis Strange (1989 US Open), Nick Faldo (1990 Masters) and, of course, Tiger Woods (2000 US PGA, 2002 Masters, 2006 Open, 2007 US PGA).
In the 50 years since Arnold Palmer and his arm sparked the evolution of modern professional golf, only Arnie himself (1962 Open), Jack Nicklaus (1996 Masters), Lee Trevino (1972 Open) and Tom Watson (1983 Open) have also successfully defended at the Majors.
Harrington's majestic effort at Birkdale proves he has the golf game and the mental strength to win the US PGA or any of the other Majors. In this respect, Ireland's world No 3 has become Tiger's greatest rival.
Q: Yeah, but he didn't beat the Tiger at Birkdale?
A: How big a factor was Woods at Carnoustie 12 months earlier, when he finished tied 12th behind Harrington? A Celtic Tiger went on the rampage at Royal Birkdale.
Q: Is The Claret Jug is more precious than Olympic gold?
A: Of course not ... winning The Open or striking gold at the Olympics are incomparable.
Five people brought gold and glory to Ireland at the Olympics, Dr Pat O'Callaghan (twice in 1928 and '32), Bob Tisdall (1932), Ronnie Delany (1956), Michael Carruth (1992) and Michelle Smith (three gold and one bronze in 1996), though the latter's medals lost their lustre at the international sport's court in Lausanne.
One cannot say Harrington's more committed to his sport than O'Callaghan, Tisdall, Delany, Carruth or world champions like McCullough, Collins, Coghlan and O'Sullivan.
Q: Hold on a minute. Golfers amble around the course and Harrington has Ronan Flood to carry his bag. How can he be compared to 'real' athletes?
A: Nonsense. You might as well argue the late, great Joey Dunlop owed his 26 Isle of Man TT wins to Honda or that Tony McCoy couldn't jump fences without a horse.
I was stunned a while back when Irish Sports Council Chairman Ossie Kilkenny said I'd have a hard time convincing him golf was a sport, not just a leisure pursuit. I hope he was pulling my leg.
Few 'ordinary' people would survive the average Tour golfer's usual routine of flying long distances to tournaments; hitting hundreds of balls on the range and playing two or three practice rounds before taking on 72 holes of tournament play in four days.
The Irishman's schedule is as punishing as any elite athlete's. What you see on the golf course is only the tip of the iceberg and Harrington unceasingly pursues perfection.
Look at the large team of technical experts he has assembled, including exalted Scottish swing coach Bob Torrance; American sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella; Irish fitness expert Dr Liam Hennessy; English biomechanics guru Dr Paul Hurrion and top Aussie sports chiropractor Dale Richardson.
Throw in the golf club research and development he does with the boffins at Wilson, plus additional physiological work ordained by the Titleist Performance Institute and you'll begin to understand what's going on behind the scenes.
Q: What's the key to his success?
A: Behind an affable exterior, Harrington's as hard as nails. On and off the course, he seems capable of taking the positive out of even the gloomiest situation.
For example, Rotella expressed wonder at Harrington's ability to turn the wrist injury which almost wrecked his title defence into a motivating factor at Royal Birkdale.
The Irishman's ability to turn logic on its head sometimes leaves the rest of us scratching ours, but this mental resilience has stood to him in the darkest hours, especially at Carnoustie.
Q: Okay, but he's never had to dig as deep physically as Stephen Roche at La Plagne in 1987. Surely winning the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and World title that year makes Roche the greatest-ever Irish sportsman?
A: Roche certainly won the equivalent of three Majors in 1987. Having followed him on Le Tour that year, I can safely say it was the most awe-inspiring performance I've witnessed by an Irishman in 31 years of sports reporting. However, a knee injury sustained by Roche that November prevented him from fulfilling his true potential as one of the most naturally gifted cyclists of all time.
Q: What about George Best and Roy Keane? Do team sports not count?
A: Competitors don't come any tougher or more committed than the iconic Keano. Yet the Corkman's volatile temperament made him vulnerable, especially in Saipan. Best's genius was even greater but so were his flaws.
Pat Jennings, John Giles, Liam Brady and, despite all the odds against him, Paul McGrath offered equally honourable service for Ireland, as one might say of Jackie Kyle or Mike Gibson in rugby. Yet rarely can a team player match the stoic nobility of the individual sportsman's lonely battle.
Q: Do you have to excel in the international arena to qualify?
A: No. Gaelic football and hurling have given this country many legends, none greater than Mick O'Connell or Christy Ring. Our native games have fuelled the dreams of generations of Irish youngsters.
Q: So, is Harrington our greatest-ever sportsman?
A: Frankly, no. He's our greatest golfer and, through global TV coverage, has brought unprecedented honour to his homeland. Yet the achievements of sporting icons from different codes are incomparable.
Harrington certainly joins legendary names like O'Callaghan, Roche, Ring and Dunlop in the national pantheon ... but neither he nor anyone else can ever usurp them.
- Karl MacGinty
