Rock Solid Performance: British Open

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Padraig Harrington won the Open Championship on Sunday after recovering from a string of three straight bogeys in the final round on Nos. 7 through 9. In the last 25 years only two other players had a streak of at least three consecutive bogeys in the final round of a major and emerged victorious: Jose Maria Olazabal at in the 1999 Masters and Hal Sutton at the 1983 PGA Championship.

Harrington recovered nicely from the bogey streak on the front nine by shooting a 4-under 32 on the back. Since 1995, no other winner of the British Open has shot a score that low on the back nine of the final round.

Padraig Harrington has now won the Open Championship in consecutive years (2007 and 2008). The last winner of this tournament, Tiger Woods, also won in consecutive years. This is only the second time since 1900 that the Open has had consecutive back-to-back champions. Bobby Jones won the Open Championship in 1926-27 and Walter Hagen won it in 1928-29.