Jim McCabe

SOUTHPORT, England - And the favorite for the final round of the 137th British Open at Royal Birkdale is ...

Padraig Harrington.

To win, that is, not to capture the hearts of golf fans, because that treasured story line is a landslide. In fact, the returns are in, all precincts have reported, and there is a champion declared: Greg Norman. (Click here for live final-round leaderboard)

Not since Jack Nicklaus got in the hunt at the 1986 Masters has there been such a layer of sentimental joy associated with a major golf championship. And if you believe in omens or strange coincidences or whatever, guess who stopped in at Royal Birkdale on Friday morning? Nicklaus.

He was there on corporate business, but if there’s anyone who can translate the goings-on of a major golf championship it’s Nicklaus. Norman, 53, had opened with a 70. Tom Watson, 58, had shot a stout 74 in a cold, windy rainstorm. Tom Lehman, 49, had also posted 74.

Nicklaus crunched those numbers and delivered this: What serves players from a generation ago is the fact that they came along at a time when you didn’t make money unless you won, because there were no big, fat checks for coming in 17th or 23d or 27th.

He meant it not as a slight on today’s players, but as a tribute to Norman’s fortitude that he step into the major golf championship arena for the first time since 2005, at the age of 53, no less, and put on a remarkable competitive performance. But he rarely plays, and wouldn’t that hurt him when crunch time arrives Sunday?

Nicklaus shook is head. He said he hadn’t played much competitive golf in 1986, either, but when Sunday rolled around and the green jacket was on the line, “I remembered how to play.” Then he added, about Norman: “He’ll remember how to play.”

The anecdote was relayed to Norman, not long after he had held up against brutal winds, shot 72 to push to 2-over 212 and seize the 54-hole lead in a major championship for the eighth time in his career.

“I think that’s a very good comment to make,” said Norman. “I think only the individuals who have been there before know what you do.”

Fair enough, but that doesn’t just serve as a reason why Norman can win this Open Championship at Birkdale. It’s also grounds for throwing your support toward Harrington, the methodical, but polished Irishman who should be introduced to the scenario as the defending champ.

Remember?

He was six behind at the start of last year’s final round of the British Open, stormed home in 67, then prevailed in a playoff over Sergio Garcia. OK, so Harrington almost coughed it up at the 72d hole, only to be saved by a guy who has never been confused with Mariano Rivera when it comes to closing things — the petulant Garcia. But the greater truth is this: Harrington has learned how to be a champion the old-fashioned way — by learning how to lose.

Between 1997 and 2006, Harrington recorded a staggering 24 runner-up finishes in European PGA Tour tournaments and even while he sprinkled in eight wins during that stretch, he was better known as a guy who couldn’t seal the deal. Slowly has that reputation been lived down, and last year’s British Open performance — particularly in the way he stuffed his approach on the first of four playoff holes and made birdie — has gone a long way toward elevating his stature.

At times in the third round Saturday, it appeared alternately that Harrington was going to assume command (he birdied Nos. 5 and 7) or fall from view (he played Nos. 11 and 12 in 3-over). But in the end, he righted the ship. And while he didn’t exactly match Norman shot-for-shot, Harrington did fight his way into the final pairing.

Though he’ll be head-to-head with Norman, Harrington won’t forget that it’s not a two-man race, that K.J. Choi is a very real presence and that wilder British Open things have happened than Simon Wakefield winning or Ross Fisher winning or Ben Curtis winning.

Which reminds us, Curtis already has won one of these claret jugs, so sitting just five strokes back, why couldn’t he do it again?

No reason, of course, except that he won’t. Harrington will be the one who wins again. And Norman will be the one who loses a 54-hole major championship lead again.

No, it’s not the way everyone wants to see this story unfold, but this is one time to follow the head and not the heart.

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