Relieved Harrington enjoys success

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Harrington led by a shot with one to play only to twice find the Barry Burn on the 18th and run up a double bogey six. That left Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia needing to par the same hole to win, but the 27-year-old took a bogey five and Harrington won the subsequent four-hole play-off by a shot to claim his first major title.

The 35-year-old Dubliner said: "I never let myself think I had blown the Open. 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."

He added: "If I'd lost I don't know what I'd think about playing golf again.

"But the 18th is the toughest finishing hole in golf. There's trouble everywhere you look. I knew it was going to be tough for Sergio to make par. He did hit a lovely putt and I thought he had holed it."

Instead it caught the edge of the hole and stayed out, and Harrington made the most of his reprieve.

"It's going to take a long time for it to settle in. There was so much going through my mind, some of it was genuine shock I had won the Open Championship," he added.

"It's going to mean a lot for Irish golf. We celebrate all our sporting achievements, we're a great country for anyone who does well. I'm very proud of the support I get at home. Far more people have more belief in me than I have in myself.

"It's important that I go and try to win another major rather than feeling this was the pinnacle. I'm going to celebrate like it was the pinnacle but I've got other goals now to move on with.

"I'm certainly going to enjoy this one for the foreseeable future. Forever actually."