Harrington Deservedly Joins An Elite Group

Hello. Congrats to Padraig Harrington for defending his British Open title. While history will record it as a 4 shot victory, it was a lot closer thanks to Ian Poulter's late charge. Only an exceptional finish by Harrington took away the drama.
This win is big for many reasons. First Harrington was iffy to even start due to a wrist injury. We all saw what a bad wrist did to Phil Mickelson in 2007. I'm sure it was in the back of his mind whenever he was in the rough.
Harrington becomes the first European to win back to back Opens in 100 years. He's the 5th in the last 50 years to defend (joining Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer). And his two majors elevate him into a new class of player, and a Hall of Fame candidate.
Is this win tainted due to Tiger's absence? No way! Harrington was defending, which means he won last year when Woods was in the field. And to those who say Woods would've done well due to his 3rd place win 10 years ago at Royal Birkdale, the same thing was supposed to be true for Justin Rose, who was 4th at Birkdale as a 17 year old. Rose was tied for 70th this year.
Congrats Padraig!

Regards,
Steve