Harrington not nearly ready to go gently into the good night

Who's to say Harrington - a two-time Open champion himself - can't do it again?

Harrington tees off the 15th during a practice day ahead of The Open at Royal Troon

Time changes us, our perceptions. Padraig Harrington was a very happy man when he came off the 18th green on the Sunday of the 1997 Open Championship here in Ayrshire. He had tied for fifth, catapulted his chances for Ryder Cup selection and earned himself an invite to Winged Foot for the US Open the following month.

A 25-year old playing only his third major at the time, he offered the word “tremendous” to sum up his week. Now, 27 years later, he was back at Royal Troon, the magnitude of that chapter lost in the swallows of the decades and the swells of a career awash with silverware and garlanded with a place in golf’s Hall of Fame.