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At 54 years old, Padraig Harrington is still eyeing a fourth major championship.
The Irishman last won one of golf’s four major trophies in 2008, the final act in a two-year run where he won three majors. They included two Open Championship titles and a PGA Championship.
He’s been playing on the PGA Tour Champions since 2022 and missed the cut at both major championships he played in 2025 as a former champion. But he still thinks he can win another.
Harrington said that he knows what is holding him back, and is confident that he can overcome it.
Padraig Harrington says fear is what is preventing him from winning another major
If Harrington wins a major this year, he’ll be four years older than Phil Mickelson was when he became the oldest-ever major winner in 2021.
He said that it’s his mentality that is holding him back, and explained why every golfer gets in their own way when they gain a certain amount of experience.
Speaking on The Late Late Show, Harrington was asked if he thinks he’ll win another major, and answered, “I create my own reality, and I believe it. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks, it doesn’t matter what the bookmakers think, it doesn’t matter what the stats guys think.
“I’ve got to think like that because that’s what I enjoy. I get out there and practice because I have that belief.
“There seems to be a sweet spot, where you’re gaining experience, and you have a certain amount of innocence, that’s the right point. Then, believe it or not, the more experience, you’ve lost the innocence, and I get the fear plenty of times when I’m playing.
“So I’m trying to manage that at different stages, and I can get through it. It just seems to happen in golf. I’m sure it happens to younger people and they don’t ever have a career. They get in their own way at 20 years of age or 25 years of age. I started getting in my own way.
“Pretty much all professional golfers are burned out after 20 years in the game. It’s just the nature of it. But do you know what? I’m gonna be the first to make a comeback.”
The oldest ever golf major winners
If Harrington was somehow able to pull off this feat, he’d become the oldest major winner in the sport’s history.
The record is currently held by Mickelson, who stunned the world by winning the 2021 PGA Championship at the age of **50 years, 11 months, and 7 days. “Lefty” eclipsed a mark that had stood for 53 years, previously held by Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.
Other notable senior champions include Old Tom Morris, still the oldest winner of The Open Championship at age 46, Jack Nicklaus, the oldest ever Masters winner at 46, and Hale Irwin, the oldest U.S. Open winner, claiming the title in 1990 at age 45.
On the women’s side, Fay Crocker holds the all-time record. She won the 1960 Titleholders Championship at the age of 45 years and 7 months.
More recently, the LPGA has seen veterans like Sherri Steinhauer win the 2006 Women’s British Open at 43, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias win the 1954 U.S. Women’s Open at 43.