ONLY THOSE chosen by destiny hear the call. Only the truly great ones hear it twice. Yesterday, Pádraig Harrington, a policeman's son from the foothills of the Dublin mountains, became a legend in his own lifetime by retaining the Claret Jug with an inspired final round in the 137th British Open championship over the sandhills of Royal Birkdale.

Unlike his triumph at Carnoustie, this repeat victory - whereby he emulated Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer - did not have the heart-stopping moments of that day 12 months ago.

This time, there was no Barrie Burn to suck the ball into its chill waters. This time, there was no need for a sudden-death play-off. This time, Harrington won the oldest major of them all with a commanding performance that smacked of true greatness.

A final-round 69 for 283, three over par, gave Harrington a four-stroke winning margin over England's Ian Poulter, while Greg Norman - who had started the day with a two-shot lead over Harrington and South Korea's KJ Choi - finished in a tie for third with Sweden's Henrik Stenson.

The win earned Harrington a cheque for €938,565, secured his place on Europe's Ryder Cup team for the match in Valhalla in September and moved him to a career-high position of number three in the official world rankings.

Harrington's win also took him into an elite club of golfing greats who have retained the title.

And, afterwards, as he peered at the names engraved on the base to see the sort of company he had joined as back-to-back champions, Harrington quipped, "It's a little shinier than I remember . . . they obviously cleaned it up nicely."

Last Monday, when he returned the trophy to the R&A, Harrington did so unsure if he would be able to play.

On the previous Saturday evening, hours after retaining his Irish PGA title, he had sustained a wrist injury while performing an exercise routine in the gym of his house in Rathmichael.

And, in the days leading up to the tournament, he was limited to just nine holes of practice while undergoing intensive treatment from his sports chiropractor Dale Richardson.

Yesterday, with the famous jug back in his custody for another year, Harrington claimed the disruption had actually worked to his benefit. Because of the fierce winds throughout the four days, the Birkdale course proved to be one of the toughest championship examinations in many years.

"The wrist injury was a great distraction for me," he said. "There's no question it pushed everything about coming back to defend (the title) to the side. It took a lot of pressure off me; it took away a lot of stress. It was a good distraction to have."

Indeed, there was another consequence. Aside from ensuring he did not think too much about the actual defence, the injury also kept him physically and mentally sharp.

"Everybody will tell you this has been the toughest week we could ever have in golf," he said. "The fact that I didn't play three practice rounds like normal for a major was a big bonus. I was very fresh going into the weekend. The wrist injury was a saver for me, really."

He added: "The injury took all the pressure and stress and expectation away from my game.

"I think my case is slightly different from Tiger's. He was obviously injured throughout the tournament (the US Open at Torrey Pines last month) and it was impairing his ability to perform. My injury didn't impair me at all on the golf course. It kept me away from practice, which as it turned out was a bonus.

"Golfers are very fickle. Little things can change our mindset and our moods, and that can have a huge effect on our golf. Having a little bit of pressure release in terms of having a wrist injury was just what I needed to go out and play my own golf, to do my own thing and not try too hard."

Although it was Harrington's first win on either the European Tour or the US Tour since his triumph at Carnoustie last year, he reiterated his stance that all of his preparations are geared to the majors.

"My goal is to keep getting into contention in the majors, to keep hanging around. The majors are what it is all about for me. I set my schedule out this year for the four majors and the Ryder Cup and I try to peak for those four weeks . . . if I can get a 50 per cent hit rate and get into contention, then that's two a year (to contend in).

"All you need to do is maybe hit one out of four of those and you're winning one every second year. That's a pretty high rate for most of us mere mortals."

Having stalked the leaders for the first three rounds, Harrington pounced in yesterday's final round. Norman, who started with a run of bogey-bogey-bogey to fall back into a share of the lead with Harrington, eventually finished with a 77.

England's Ian Poulter, who finished with a 69 for 287, emerged as the greatest danger to Harrington and had even ventured on to the practice range to hit warm-up shots in case there would be need for a four-hole play-off.

Harrington effectively secured a successful retention of the title with a magnificent eagle on the par-five 17th, where he hit a five-wood approach from 249 yards to three feet. He coolly and calmly rolled in the eagle putt, and could - along with caddie Ronan Flood - enjoy the walk of a champion up the 18th fairway, safe in the knowledge he had a four-shot lead.

He covered the back nine in four under par.

"The way he finished - a true champion finishes that way," opined Norman."