Irish Open: The long and winding tarmacadam path leading from the practice putting green to the first tee at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort was an apposite metaphor for the golfing journey Padraig Harrington embarked upon yesterday.

From the moment he arrived at the practice range, he was reminded of his destiny. One small banner read, "Ireland expects". Munching on a banana and flanked by two gardaí, he smiled at well-wishers as he ambled from range to putting green and then, at 1.35pm, made his way to the real arena.

A human funnel flanked his progress, the volume increasing as he neared the first tee. Bradley Dredge, his playing partner and chief protagonist, was first to arrive and was treated graciously, the applause warm. But when the official introductions were made, the Welshman allowed himself a wry smile: he was on Harrington's patch with his 23,150 foot soldiers.

Every vantage point was commandeered along the first hole, from the mini-grandstand behind the tee to the massive galleries that thronged the ropes. Dredge pulled his opening tee-shot into the left rough, seconds later to the followed by Harrington, who drew the easier lie.

The tension was captured on the Welshman's face with his approach as a heavy contact and a slight pull meant his ball took the longest possible route to cross the pond guarding the first green. The intensity of Dredge's stare willed the ball to find terra firma, which it did.

Harrington hit the middle of the green but the wrong side of the saddle and could only watch as his putt slowed snaked to the left extremity of the green, leaving him 60 feet from the pin. Dredge three-putted, the Irishman took one fewer, and the mood of the supporters was ebullient.

It wasn't dampened when Harrington miscued a chip at the second green, and ended up taking bogey. Dredge recovered from another pulled iron to get up and down for par.

It wasn't only bunkers and water that provided the hazards on this particular afternoon, and that was manifest on the third tee when a mobile phone shattered the silence as the Welshman was on his downswing.

He hooked the tee-shot into a small drain that borders the left of the hole, from which he was forced to take a penalty drop.

Moving the massive galleries was also proving to be a problem, not in terms of the space afforded by this beautiful parkland estate but by the sheer numbers who wanted to watch a single contest. The players were forced to pick their way through the crowds from green to tee box. On a couple of occasions Dredge was almost left to fend for himself.

He did brilliantly to get up and down for a bogey from the front left trap on the third, but conceded ground as Harrington holed from 16 feet for birdie. The par three fourth, was to provide a watershed in terms of the marshalling of the galleries. A media photographer pointed out that two people wearing the distinctive red caps and badges of marshals were taking photographs rather than fulfilling their duties. They were dispatched.

Once again Dredge had to pick his way through men, women and children to get from the tee box to the green as the supporters swarmed through the ropes.

The gallery formed a ring around the final third of the hole, the tournament in terms of viewing access owing more to the less restrictive amateur event like the Walker Cup than to a professional tournament.

In fairness to the marshals, they sorted out the problems, facilitated by realisation among the enthusiastic galleries that to get a vantage point it was important to stay ahead of the game, literally. It was impossible for those outside the ropes to watch every shot.

The sporting nature of the contest was exemplified by the exchanges between the players and also the warmth of applause when Dredge excelled, which he did pretty much all afternoon. He proved a very doughty opponent mentally and physically, coming from two behind playing the 17th to stand tied for the lead on the 18th tee first time round.

Dredge blinked first on the tie hole.

"Before I went out I knew I had to shoot a good score and had a good run at the end of the front nine," Dredge said. "I kept my head down and played my own game. My long game hasn't been great, but I hit enough good iron shots close and putted well."

Harrington's victory brought the curtain down on a tournament that has taken superbly to its new home, embraced by the crowds and presenting to the golfing world a superb new venue.

The Irish Open had its champion: an Irishman and a worthy successor to a proud lineage.

Harrington's wins

EUROPEAN TOUR(11)

1996 Peugeot Spanish Open. 2000 Sao Paulo Brazil Open, Madrid Open. 2001 Volvo Masters 2002 Dunhill Links* 2003 BMW Asian Open, Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe*. 2004 Omega Hong Kong Open, Linde German Masters. 2006 Dunhill Links. 2007 Irish Open.*

US PGA TOUR(2)

2005 Honda Classic, Barclays Classic.

JAPANESE TOUR(1)

2006 Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

IRISH PGA(3)

1998 Irish PGA. 2004 Irish PGA. 2005 Irish PGA.

* Denotes play-off win

TEAM

1997 World Cup (with Paul McGinley). 2002 Seve Trophy, Ryder Cup. 2003 Seve Trophy. 2005 Seve Trophy. 2004 Ryder Cup. 2006 Ryder Cup