{"id":624633,"date":"2025-12-10T17:27:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624633\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:27:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:27:30","slug":"major-champion-54-confident-he-can-break-phil-mickelsons-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/624633\/","title":{"rendered":"Major champion, 54, confident he can break Phil Mickelson’s record"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multiple major champion Padraig Harrington insists he is far from done in golf’s big four.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 54-year-old Irishman captured his first major win at the 2007 Open<\/a> at Carnoustie and successfully defended the claret jug a year later at Royal Birkdale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harrington also won the 2008 PGA Championship<\/a> and, after turning his attention to the over 50s circuit, has won three more senior majors (U.S. Open 2022, 2025, Senior Open 2025).\u00a0<\/p>\n

History tells us that Harrington is unlikely to add to his haul of three major wins but the former European Ryder Cup<\/a> captain believes he can break Phil Mickelson’s record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mickelson<\/a> became the oldest male golfer to win a major when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island aged 50.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Lefty held off a challenge from Brooks Koepka<\/a> in the final round to claim the sixth major win of his hall of fame career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harrington told RTE<\/a> he believes he will have “a few opportunities next year”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“U.S. Opens tend to have been my most consistent events over the years,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Really tough challenge, good short game, good decisions. So I see myself with a few opportunities.<\/p>\n

“I don’t necessarily think I’m gonna go in and win one on the blind, like a Tom Watson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I think if I’m going to win one, you’ll see me in contention in some regular events going into it.”<\/p>\n

Oldest male golfers to win a major championship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Rank<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Golfer<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Major<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Age at win<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Phil Mickelson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2021 PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

50 years, 11 months, 7 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Julius Boros<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1968 PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

48 years, 4 months, 18 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Tom Morris Sr.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1867 The Open Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

46 years, 3 months, 10 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Jack Nicklaus<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1986 Masters Tournament<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

46 years, 2 months, 23 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Jerry Barber<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1961 PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

45 years, 3 months, 6 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Hale Irwin<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1990 U.S. Open<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Lee Trevino<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1984 PGA Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

44 years, 8 months, 18 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Roberto De Vicenzo<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1967 The Open Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

44 years, 3 months, 1 day<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Harry Vardon<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1914 The Open Championship<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

44 years, 1 month, 10 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Raymond Floyd<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

1986 U.S. Open<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

43 years, 9 months, 11 days<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

He added: “I don’t see myself jumping in there and having an out-of-body experience and winning.<\/p>\n

“I see myself playing well, getting my game in good shape and building my way into those events. I’m not looking for a lucky week.<\/p>\n

“I’m looking to get my game in good shape that I’m an outsider going into it \u2013 ‘what about him?’ sort of thing.<\/p>\n

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“I don’t expect to be the favourite, but I need to move myself into that category of ‘don’t write off Harrington’.<\/p>\n

“I know I can do it if it’s down the stretch. I feel like I can compete with anybody in that situation.”<\/p>\n

Scottie Scheffler<\/a>, 29, won two majors in 2025. The top-ranked American started his season late after he needed surgery on his hand after cutting it on the stem of a wine glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He cantered to victory at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and landed his first Open win at Royal Portrush in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/a> won The Masters whilst J.J. Spaun was the surprise winner of the U.S. Open at Oakmont.<\/p>\n

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Where are the men’s majors being played in 2026?<\/p>\n

The men’s major season kicks off with the annual Masters Tournament at Augusta National over 7-9 April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2026 PGA Championship will be played at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania over 14-17 May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. Open will be contested at Shinnecock Hills in New York over 18-21 June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And The Open will return to Royal Birkdale over 16-19 July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Multiple major champion Padraig Harrington insists he is far from done in golf’s big four.\u00a0 The 54-year-old Irishman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,14178,16021,79,4297,83701,16,15,5067],"class_list":{"0":"post-624633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-padraig-harrington","10":"tag-pga-championship","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-the-masters","13":"tag-the-open-championship","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-us-open"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115696451529098064","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}