Pádraig Harrington: ‘Everything I do on tour is a bonus’

Pádraig Harrington is sitting in the iconic art deco clubhouse at Royal Birkdale, having lunch and shooting the breeze.

But as he looks back on the sensational, 272-yard five-wood to two feet that set up the 71st hole eagle that clinched his second Claret Jug in 2008, he opens a Pandora’s Box of fascinating insights about where he’s come from - and where he is today.

He admits it was a wrench to leave home and fly to Birkdale in the first place — an occupational hazard after 22 years on tour.