Harrington still has major hunger while Lowry feels he can ‘win one of these things’

Pádraig Harrington sat on the dais in the interview area at Muirfield and vowed never to give up his quest for more major glory.

Asked if he was tempted to rest on his laurels, he said: “Having three majors or one major or two majors doesn’t make it any easier when you’re playing.

“It only makes it easier when you stop, and I have no intention of stopping.”

His comments came in the course a 20-minute chat that covered his new love of the belly putter, his failure to birdie a par-three or a par-four at Muirfield all week and his struggle to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.

While Darren Clarke headed the Irish challenge in joint 21st on seven over, the Ulsterman beat a hasty retreat and did not stop to share his thoughts on two closing bogeys that completed his one over 72 yesterday.

The red mist may have lifted by the time Clarke reached the car ferry port en route to Portrush but the rest of the Irish survivors were full of positive thoughts about the future with Harrington’s sentiments echoed by Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell at the end of a momentous week.

Lowry was playing in just his fourth major having missed the cut in a US PGA and US Open following share of 37th on his Open debut at St Andrews in 2005.

His closing 70 gave him his best finish in a major, a share of 32nd on nine over par. But while he was left to rue a double bogey six at the 14th and a bogey at the 16th — that three hole stretch from the 14th to the 16th cost him nine shots — he left Scotland believing more than ever that he has what it takes to lift a major trophy.

“I think, I definitely, definitely have the game to compete at tournaments like the Open where it is tough and it’s a grind,” Lowry said. “I am going away from this week knowing I can win one of these things one day.

“Like I said at the start of the week, I’m only 26 and I need to play in as many Majors as I can. I want to play in them all. And I think in two, three, four years’ time I’ll be going into Major championships trying to compete and trying to win them. I definitely think it’s good enough to happen, but I just think I need to get a bit more experience in them first.”

Lowry birdied the first and then chipped in for eagle at the ninth to get to three under before following a double bogey at the 14th with a bogey at the 16th and a satisfying birdie at the 17th.

That eagle chip left him one chip-in short of winning a bet with his caddie Dermot Byrne that he would find the cup 11 times this season. One more and Byrne will have to fork out for Lowry’s holiday. But the prize the Offaly man wants more than anything is a Grand Slam trophy to go alongside the All-Ireland football title of his father Brendan.

Struggling to put his finger on what he learned at Muirfield, Lowry reflected on his disappointment after that opening 74 and confessed that he now knows how to better judge what it means to score well in a major.

“I think where it got away from me was the first round when I was looking at the leaderboard a bit much, and looking at everyone making birdies, and I’m quite frustrated when I’m making bogeys,” he said. “It’s a bit of a mistake but I’ve learned from that, and I’ll know not to do that the next time.”

McDowell had every reason to feel downcast after following Saturday’s 73 with a 77 to finish 58th on 12 over. But like Lowry, he too left Scotland knowing that he has learned more about himself and what it might take to win an Open Championship.

“If you don’t walk away from this without learning something you have had a massive failure and I have learned plenty this week,” said McDowell, who admitted that he struggled to avoid pulling the ball left, which is a shot he almost never hits.

“I have just got to pour it back into the game and hope to come back. I will be disappointed if I finish my career without giving myself a real good chance at one of these.

“I definitely think there is a Claret Jug in me somewhere. We’ll see, we’ll keep working.”

Harrington insists he’ll never stop chasing majors even through he has three on the breakfast table at home.

“I didn’t make a birdie on a par three or a par four this week,” he said after finishing 54th on 11 over which leaves him needing good weeks in the Reno-Tahoe Open and the US PGA to make the top 125 who qualify for the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

“I made six birdies in total, all on par fives. I think five of them were two-putts or tap-ins. I’m just struggling to hole the birdie putts, same at the US Open, I made six birdies in the week.

“Not to make a birdie on a par-4 or par-3 the whole week, like, what are the odds?”

Then he added: “When it turns, it turns and we’ll just try to be patient and wait for it to turn. I’m delighted with my putting, in that I’m knocking in the shorter putts. When it’s a one-off putt for birdie I’m not trusting my read... Maybe I’m saving all these birdies up.”