Pádraig Harrington

About

Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008. He spent over 300 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings, and reached a career-high ranking of the third spot in July 2008. Harrington was a member of six consecutive Ryder Cup teams between 1999 and 2010. In 2024, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Harrington was born in Dublin, Ireland, the youngest of five sons of Patrick and Breda Harrington. His father, “Paddy” (1933–2005), a Garda who played Gaelic football for Cork in the 1950s, was also a boxer and hurler, and played to a five handicap in golf.
He grew up in Rathfarnham, an area on Dublin’s southside and the birthplace of two other professional golfers, Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie. Harrington attended the same local secondary school as McGinley (though not in the same year), giving their school, Coláiste Éanna, the unique distinction of having produced two Ryder Cup captains. Encouraged by his brothers and father…