Harrington: I would have quit if I lost

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The Irishman, Europe's first winner of a major in eight years, beat Ryder Cup teammate Sergio Garcia by one shot over four extra holes after both men completed regulation play in seven under par totals of 277.

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Harrington seals his maiden major win

"I never let myself think I had blown The Open," said Harrington.

"If I had lost I would have struggled to come back out and be a professional golfer. It meant that much to me. It would have been incredibly hard to take. If I'd lost I don't know what I'd think about playing golf again."

The 35-year-old was angered last week by Nick Faldo's claim that the new generation of European contenders are too friendly with each other, and are content to play for a lucrative finish in a tournament top 10 rather than go all out to win.

"You can be a nice guy and win," said Harrington. "It's a nice thing to aspire to. I like the positive idea of wishing people well and not wishing them bad.

"I'm a very competitive person inside, I work very hard at having a competitive instinct. But I genuinely felt sorry for Sergio when I won here."

As for Faldo's assertion that European players today are not as focused on winning as he was when claiming six majors between the mid-eighties and the mid-nineties, 35-year-old Harrington said: "It was easier to know who your competitors were in the eighties. There were less players on the worldwide scene. Now, more players are capable of winning a major."

The Irishman attempted to console Garcia by telling the 27-year-old Spaniard his turn at winning a major would come.

Garcia, who had led the championship from day one, would have seen his name rather than Harrington's engraved on the Claret Jug had he sunk an eight foot par putt on the last hole.

Instead, Garcia returned a closing two-over 73 while his rival had a four-under 67.

Garcia said: "It's tough because I didn't think I did anything wrong. I hit unbelievable putts all day and they didn't want to go in. I just have to move on and take the positives out of it."