| 2008 British Open | |
Padraig Harrington won his first major at the preceding year's Open Championship. But when Harrington reached the 2008 British Open and the defense of his title, he was in pain.
Suffering from a wrist injury, Harrington considered withdrawing. Only the fact that this was his title defense kept him from doing so. Still, he had to cut his preparations and practice time short in favor of treatment for the wrist.
Although he opened with a 74, Harrington rebounded with a second-round 68. By the end of the third round, Harrington moved up to second place, two strokes behind the very surprising Greg Norman.
Norman was the 1986 British Open and 1993 British Open champion, but he was in semi-retirement now, and hadn't played a British Open in several years. He was 53 years old at this point, and the final-round conditions were very windy and tough.
And Norman couldn't keep the magic going for four rounds, stumbling with a final-round 77. None of the other challengers stepped up, but Harrington carded a strong 69 to pull away for the win.
2008 British Open Scores
Scores and earnings from the 2008 British Open, played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club (par 70) in Southport, England (a-amateur):
| Padraig Harrington | 74-68-72-69--283 | $1,498,875 |
| Ian Poulter | 72-71-75-69--287 | $899,325 |
| Greg Norman | 70-70-72-77--289 | $509,617 |
| Henrik Stenson | 76-72-70-71--289 | $509,617 |
| a-Chris Wood | 75-70-73-72--290 | |
| Jim Furyk | 71-71-77-71--290 | $359,730 |
| David Howell | 76-71-78-67--292 | $193,743 |
| Robert Karlsson | 75-73-75-69--292 | $193,743 |
| Anthony Kim | 72-74-71-75--292 | $193,743 |
| Steve Stricker | 77-71-71-73--292 | $193,743 |
| Robert Allenby | 69-73-76-74--292 | $193,743 |
| Stephen Ames | 73-70-78-71--292 | $193,743 |
| Paul Casey | 78-71-73-70--292 | $193,743 |
| Ben Curtis | 78-69-70-75--292 | $193,743 |
| Ernie Els | 80-69-74-69--292 | $193,743 |
| KJ Choi | 72-67-75-79--293 | $106,253 |
| Justin Leonard | 77-70-73-73--293 | $106,253 |
| Adam Scott | 70-74-77-72--293 | $106,253 |
| Paul Waring | 73-74-76-71--294 | $75,484 |
| Alexander Noren | 72-70-75-77--294 | $75,484 |
| a-Thomas Sherreard | 77-69-76-72--294 | |
| Paul Waring | 73-74-76-71--294 | $75,484 |
| Graeme McDowell | 69-73-80-72--294 | $75,484 |
| Rocco Mediate | 69-73-76-76--294 | $75,484 |
| Phil Mickelson | 79-68-76-71--294 | $75,484 |
| Jean Van De Velde | 73-71-80-70--294 | $75,484 |
| Simon Wakefield | 71-74-70-79--294 | $75,484 |
| Anders Hansen | 78-68-74-74--294 | $75,484 |
| Trevor Immelman | 74-74-73-73--294 | $75,484 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 71-72-79-72--294 | $75,484 |
| Gregory Havret | 71-75-77-71--294 | $75,484 |
| Davis Love III | 75-74-70-75--294 | $75,484 |
| Tom Lehman | 74-73-73-75--295 | $50,033 |
| Nick O'Hern | 74-75-74-72--295 | $50,033 |
| Andres Romero | 77-72-74-72--295 | $50,033 |
| Retief Goosen | 71-75-73-76--295 | $50,033 |
| Richard Green | 76-72-76-71--295 | $50,033 |
| Todd Hamilton | 74-74-72-75--295 | $50,033 |
| Heath Slocum | 73-76-74-72--295 | $50,033 |
| Graeme Storm | 76-70-72-78--296 | $33,266 |
| Mike Weir | 71-76-74-75--296 | $33,266 |
| Camilo Villegas | 76-65-79-76--296 | $33,266 |
| Jay Williamson | 73-72-77-74--296 | $33,266 |
| Ariel Canete | 78-71-76-71--296 | $33,266 |
| David Duval | 73-69-83-71--296 | $33,266 |
| Ross Fisher | 72-74-71-79--296 | $33,266 |
| Gregory Bourdy | 74-74-75-73--296 | $33,266 |
| Bart Bryant | 70-78-74-74--296 | $33,266 |
| Woody Austin | 76-72-74-74--296 | $33,266 |
| Thomas Aiken | 75-71-82-68--296 | $33,266 |
| Simon Khan | 77-72-71-76--296 | $33,266 |
| Zach Johnson | 73-72-76-76--297 | $23,553 |
| Doug LaBelle | 78-70-74-75--297 | $23,553 |
| Sergio Garcia | 72-73-74-78--297 | $23,553 |
| David Frost | 75-73-73-76--297 | $23,553 |
| Stuart Appleby | 72-71-79-75--297 | $23,553 |
| Michael Campbell | 75-74-74-74--297 | $23,553 |
| Anthony Wall | 71-73-81-72--297 | $23,553 |
| Scott Verplank | 77-67-78-76--298 | $21,284 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 73-75-74-76--298 | $21,284 |
| Kevin Stadler | 72-75-78-73--298 | $21,284 |
| Richard Finch | 75-73-78-72--298 | $21,284 |
| Tom Gillis | 74-72-79-73--298 | $21,284 |
| Peter Hanson | 71-72-78-77--298 | $21,284 |
| Soren Hansen | 75-69-77-78--299 | $20,384 |
| Jonathan Lomas | 75-73-76-75--299 | $20,384 |
| Liang Wen-Chong | 77-71-77-74--299 | $20,384 |
| Lee Westwood | 75-74-78-73--300 | $19,785 |
| Jean Baptiste Gonnet | 75-72-73-80--300 | $19,785 |
| David Horsey | 74-70-79-77--300 | $19,785 |
| Pablo Larrazabal | 75-74-73-79--301 | $18,685 |
| Jose Lima | 73-76-75-77--301 | $18,685 |
| Martin Wiegele | 75-74-78-74--301 | $18,685 |
| Brendan Jones | 74-73-83-71--301 | $18,685 |
| John Rollins | 73-75-77-76--301 | $18,685 |
| Justin Rose | 74-72-82-73--301 | $18,685 |
| Jeff Overton | 72-75-75-79--301 | $18,685 |
| Craig Parry | 77-70-77-77--301 | $18,685 |
| Lucas Glover | 78-71-77-76--302 | $17,686 |
| Nick Dougherty | 75-71-79-77--302 | $17,686 |
| Martin Kaymer | 75-72-79-77--303 | $17,386 |
| Philip Archer | 75-74-78-77--304 | $17,187 |
| Sean O'Hair | 75-73-80-78--306 | $16,987 |
| Chih-Bing Lam | 72-75-83-81--311 | $16,787 |
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