The widely held perception that golf is a sport devoid of the thrills and excitement associated with team games such as hurling, rugby or soccer was conclusively answered on Sunday evening when Padraig Harrington won the British Open championship in one of the most dramatic finishes to any sports event in recent times.
For millions of television viewers across the world this was spectacular sporting theatre. The tension of the final holes of play at Carnoustie must have been almost unbearable for the golfers and their families but it was riveting viewing that ended in unconfined joy for Harrington and Irish sports supporters.
Two of the world's best players - Harrington and Sergio Garcia - squared up to each other in a battle of nerve and ability. Displaying the whole gamut of their games - from the sublime to the very ordinary - they slugged it out over the final 18 holes of the tournament before they were forced to go head-to-head over four nerve-jangling play-off holes for one of the most coveted prizes in golf.
To emerge victorious from such a contest is testimony to how great a golfer Harrington has become. His ability to compete at the highest levels of his sport has never been doubted but crossing the Rubicon to winning a major title had proved elusive up until Sunday. Countless Irish golfing greats from Harry Bradshaw to Christy O'Connor senior to his nephew Christy junior had come within touching distance of the famous claret jug but it fell to the 35-year-old Dubliner to bridge a 60-year gap since the last Irish winner, Fred Daly in 1947.
Winning the British Open has always been viewed in Ireland as the pinnacle of achievement in golf. None of the other majors comes remotely close to the open championship in terms of history or its roll call of previous champions. Having your name etched on the famous trophy is truly carving your name in golfing history.
The financial rewards are staggering and will propel Harrington into one of the world's top earning sportsmen. However, nobody will realise more than the player himself that success on the scale achieved at Carnoustie will only be repeated if he maintains the remarkable dedication to practice and steely desire for improvement that have been hallmarks of his career.
Those admirable attributes, combined with a natural modesty and charm, have endeared Harrington to the Irish public and won him admirers way beyond the world of golf. Always an outstanding role model, Harrington is now Ireland's greatest sporting ambassador, an accolade richly deserved.