SOUTHPORT, England -- If I were a young, hungry and talented guy like Adam Scott, who recently slammed his right hand in a car door and broke a bone, I might consider becoming ambidextrous.

There's no pain here as Padraig Harrington hoists son Patrick after the British Open victory. (AP)

The way the walking wounded are collecting majors, plenty of players in search of their first Grand Slam titles should consider banging hammers on their thumbs, poking out an eyeball or driving at high speed into a brick wall without a seat belt.

Defending British Open champion Padraig Harrington began the week as a large medical question mark, his left wrist sprained during a quirky practice session the previous weekend. Early on, the Irishman placed the odds of finishing the week at 50-50.

Unless we misunderstood. Perhaps he meant his odds of winning

The 36-year-old shredded the back nine Sunday and claimed his second consecutive Open, finishing 3 over to beat Ian Poulter by four shots at blustery Royal Birkdale and becoming the 16th player to win the cherished claret jug multiple times.

"There's no doubt this week that it helped me having an injury," Harrington said, the jug sitting six inches from that same left wrist. "It took all the pressure and stress and expectation away from my game. It helped me deflect so much away from coming back and defending, and it gave me it was like coming in afresh. There was no judgment coming into it."

But plenty afterward. His mind on matters other than the daunting task of defending, Harrington became the first European to win the Open back-to-back since 1905-06 and thus has arguably become the greatest figure in Irish sports history.

"We always say beware of the injured golfer," he said.

We've said it a lot lately, right? The guys winning majors this year have had such lengthy medical charts, it's even giving me a headache.

First, recall that four months before he won the Masters title, Trevor Immelman had worrisome emergency surgery in December to remove a growth from his diaphragm, a procedure that left a large scar across his back.

A month ago, Tiger Woods wobbled and pogoed his way to a victory at the U.S. Open, despite eventually disclosing that he had suffered a blown ACL and two hairline cracks in his left leg. Woods went 91 grueling and painful holes to collect his trophy, then was hauled into surgery a few days later for full reconstructive surgery.

Harrington's issue wasn't remotely as serious, of course, but there was some doubt whether Harrington would finish his first 18 holes this week, which was played under some of the most consistently awful weather conditions in recent major-championship history.

In his first round, Harrington considered himself lucky. After a wet summer, the gorse and course were as green as his Emerald Isle. One wayward shot into the heavy stuff, and he'd have likely not made it through the week.

It helped more mentally than it hampered him medicinally, if that makes sense. Harrington cut his pre-tournament practice back to nine holes, and given the torture that ensued this week, it might have been the key to having fresh legs on the weekend.

"I think my case is slightly different to Tiger's," Harrington said. "He was obviously injured throughout the tournament and it was impairing his ability to perform. Mine didn't impair me at all on the golf course.

"It kept me away from practice, which as it turned out was a bonus for me, a help. So, slightly different, but yeah, there is always a case, beware of the injured golfer. Golfers are very fickle. Little things can set us off in the right way or the wrong way, and guys can be the best golfers in the world in a given week when the right things might happen, and might miss a cut the following week.

"So, little things can change our mindset and our moods, and that can have a huge effect on our golf. Certainly having a little bit of a pressure release this week in terms of having a wrist injury was just what I needed to get out there and play my own golf, do my own thing and not get not try too hard. "You know, there's an element when you're an Open Champion or a major champion, of trying to live up to it all the time, and that can be a burden."

The only burden he had Sunday night was deciding whether he wanted to hoist the jug in his left or right hand.

A medic was nearly needed on the front nine. After he and playing partner Greg Norman took turns blowing two-shot leads -- each player reeled off three bogeys in succession at one point -- Harrington steadied himself coming home.

Last year at Carnoustie, he butchered the 18th hole, hitting two balls in the water for a double bogey, and had to hold off Sergio Garcia in a playoff. This time around, when he marched to the 18th tee, he had the title in his pocket and a world-class grin on his mug.

The jaunty Irishman claimed the outright lead for good when he rolled in a 15-footer on the 13th for the twosome's first birdie of the day. Two holes later, he smashed two shots onto the green at the par-5 15th for an easy a two-putt birdie.

The highlight of the day came when he rifled consecutive 5-wood shots onto the green at the par-5 17th, then coaxed a four-foot eagle putt into the hole for a four-shot margin.

As Norman finished his day on the 18th green, Harrington was able to soak up the atmosphere, a luxury he didn't have last year when he was fighting for his life in regulation and the playoff.

"Definitely last year was a thrilling win and it was exciting and I was on top of the world when I won," said Harrington, who will climb to a career-best No. 3 in the world rankings on Monday. "This year is more satisfying. I feel more accomplished this year. I feel this will probably give me more confidence.

"I think winning a major gives you some relief, you know, that you have one. But I think winning this year will give me more confidence that I could manage what I needed to manage going into the last round."

If I were a tour player, I'd manage to break a rib, pull a hammy or crack my skull. Or maybe just bust a gut laughing, because this is getting crazy. The guy destined to win the PGA Championship in three weeks is probably riding his motorcycle right now, without a helmet, on a wet road.

"I have to look back and there's no question having a wrist injury pushed everything about coming back to defend to the side," he said. "It took a lot of pressure off me, it took a lot of stress off me. It was a good distraction to have."

So is having that claret jug parked on his mantle for another year.