It was for Padraig Harrington a week that began with double-doubles (burgers, not bogeys), a lost ball and losing a specious debate. It ended with a declaration of profound gratitude and another U.S. Senior Open championship.

The Irishman, 53, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, prevailed in a veritable 18-hole match race with Stewart Cink on the East Course at the Broadmoor on Sunday.

They began the day in a three-way tie for the lead, though the third wheel, Mark Hensby, bowed out of contention early. Harrington and Cink made the turn tied for the lead and were tied again with four holes to play, before a Cink bogey on the par-3 16th ultimately delivered the victory to Harrington.

In the aftermath, Harrington expressed his gratitude, noting that he won with his wife and one of his two kids in attendance, the other watching “from around the world,” he said.

“As much as I’ve won tournaments back in the day, I didn’t get to enjoy the experience with my kids,” Harrington said. “They were there for some of them, but they were only little. Now they understand it.”

The PGA Tour Champions, too, has offered “an opportunity to relive our past glories” while also allowing him to enjoy the experience substantially more, including formerly taboo dietary options.

“When you finish up [preparation] on Wednesday night … I went for an In-N-Out burger,” he said. “Like, I didn’t eat a french fry or a burger for 10, 15 years of my career. It was all about the right diet, all that sort of thing. I actually had two double-doubles.”

Meanwhile, his overall enjoyment of his week was temporarily interrupted by what occurred during the second round on Friday. Harrington hit a wayward shot into bushes and was unable to find his ball. After the round, he has words with NBC Sports’ on-course reporter Roger Maltbie for not helping look for the ball. Maltbie argued that he was on hand to report on the proceedings, not to participate in them.

Nonetheless, Harrington posted a second straight round of three-under 67, followed by a 68 on Saturday to share the lead with Cink and Hensby. He followed that up with a third 67 and a one-stroke victory, two years after winning the Senior Open for the first time, and three years after receiving some valuable advice from Hale Irwin.

“I was coming down 18, I said to my caddie Ronan [Flood], ‘look, if I birdie this hole, I win.’ It takes all the permutations out of it. Ronan then said something to me, reminded me of something that Hale Irwin told me. He said, ‘always hit the shot you would hit if you’re one shot behind,’ and that kind of gave good clarity to what I was going to do.

“Obviously if you’re one shot behind, you’d be hitting at that pin, you’ve got to take it on,” Harrington continued. “I think it made the decision. It gave me clarity to that decision that I was confident that I was doing the right thing.”

He hit his approach eight feet, basically sealing the victory with a two-putt par.

Image by Andrew Wevers

Image by Andrew Wevers

Harrington, who won two British Opens and a PGA Championship among his 14 European Tour and four PGA Tour victories, has now joyfully won 10 PGA Tour Champions events

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “We’re so much better together at this stage of our careers. Everybody is happier and friendlier. We’re not half as grumpy as we were when we were young guys. We’re much more relaxed when we’re on the golf course. We want to play great golf, but I think the environment around the Champions Tour is really nice.

“Most of us would have burnt out in golf. You put so much into your golfing career, you burn out. Usually you last about 20 years is the burn-out period, 15 to 20 years. The Champions Tour is a new lease on life. The only way you can kind of do it is do it with a different attitude and a new attitude.

“As I said, it’s about, I suppose, enjoying your past glories now and reliving them.”

Main image: Andrew Wevers

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