Padraig Harrington wins the 2007 British Open in exciting fashion.  It came down to the wire with a playoff.  Harrington paid between $2000 and $2500 for every $100 bet.  He is the distant cousin of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Joey Harrington. 

The 2007 British Open was anything but uneventful the final day with four top golfers vying for the title.  The leaderboard shifted dramatically during the final minutes with Ireland's Padraig Harrington taking over the lead at 12:10 pm EST. 

Padraig Harrington, the Irish professional golfer and former No. 6 in the world rankings who has won eleven tournaments on the European Tour and two on the PGA Tour, briefly shared the lead with Sergio Garcia during the 11 am EST hour.  Bookmakers feared a Harrington win, in particular Ireland's biggest bookmaker, Paddy Power.  Harrington took over again in the final minutes. 

Relative unknown, young Argentina Andres Romero, had taken over the lead from Spaniard Sergio Garcia.  The entire time, South African favorite Ernie Els threatened. 

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Romero got himself into serious trouble when the ball was hit out of balance during the final minutes.  He did manage to regroup but it was not enough.  Romero finished third. 

Sergio Garcia had led throughout nearly the entire 2007 British Open with the exception of the first half of Day 1.  Garcia hung around the top of the leaderboard during the final two hours.  Garcia tied atop the leaderboard with Harrington at 9 under par by 12:28 pm EST. 

"You don't need steroids in this game, you just need adrenalin," joked one of the British Open announcers as the excitement built tremendously. 

Garcia and Harrington ensured at the end that a European would win the 2007 British Open after years of draught. 

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Alistair Prescott, Sports911.com

Originally published July 22, 2007 2:37 pm ET