[3] He grew up in Rathfarnham, an area on Dublin's southside and the birthplace of two other professional golfers, Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie.

Encouraged by his brothers and father, Harrington's interest and passion for golf grew as he developed his game at nearby Stackstown G.C.

After a successful amateur career, including winning the Walker Cup with the Great Britain & Ireland team in his third appearance in 1995,[4] Harrington turned professional later that year, joining the European Tour in 1996.

[12] In 2001, Harrington won his fourth tournament on the European Tour at the Volvo Masters Andalucia,[13] this win and 6 runners up finishes in 2001 lifted Harrington to a then career-high year-end finish of second on the European Tour's Order of Merit.

[17] Following Harrington's success in 2001 and 2002 he was invited to, and won, the 2002 Target World Challenge, an unofficial event in the USA hosted by Tiger Woods, whilst this is not a PGA Tour event it marked Harrington's first win in the United States.

[12] Harrington won a further two events on the European tour in 2004 at the Omega Hong Kong Open in December 2003[20] and the Linde German Masters in September 2004.

In late June, Harrington snatched the Barclays Classic from Jim Furyk with a spectacular 65-foot (20 m) eagle putt on the final hole for his second PGA Tour win.

Two weeks later his father died from oesophageal cancer on 11 July, the Monday night preceding the 2005 Open Championship, forcing Harrington's withdrawal.

But Harrington successfully defended his title, overcoming a 2-shot deficit to Greg Norman with a final round 69.

Harrington became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years (Tommy Armour in 1930), and was the first winner from Ireland.

Harrington's victory in the PGA Championship secured his position as the number one player in Europe, earning him a spot in the 2008 European Ryder Cup team under captain Nick Faldo.

Harrington started his 2009 season with a tied-fifth finish in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on the European Tour.

He then went through a tough period in his career, missing the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, as well as the Northern Trust Open on the PGA Tour.

He arrived at the 2009 Masters Tournament hoping to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive professional majors.

At the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational he was involved in a final day head-to-head between himself and World number one Tiger Woods.

Harrington led by one shot playing the 16th hole, but he racked up a triple-bogey to Woods' birdie and he finished in joint 2nd place.

He finished in the top 10 in all four FedEx Cup playoff events, before further top-10s in Europe and the States before the end of the season.

Harrington started his 2011 season with an opening round 65, for a first-round lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour.

[30] In December 2014 he won the Bank BRI Indonesia Open on the Asian Tour for his first official win for 4 years.

[31] In March 2015, Harrington won his first title on the European or PGA Tours in seven years at the Honda Classic.

Harrington was the second consecutive player ranked 297th in the world to win on the PGA Tour, after James Hahn won the Northern Trust Open the week before.

[38] In March 2023 it was announced that Harrington would be elected World Golf Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024.

He passed his final exams in 1994 to gain admittance to ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

[42][43] Harrington became a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics, the world's largest sports organisation for people with intellectual disabilities, in May 2010.

He actively promotes Lollipop Day, the designated day for oesophageal cancer fundraising in Ireland celebrated every February and raises funds through various events and activities through The Pádraig Harrington Charitable Foundation, which are distributed to deserving beneficiaries throughout Ireland and the rest of the world.

[citation needed] PGA Tour playoff record (3–1) *Note: The 2001 Volvo Masters Andalucía was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

1Cancelled due to 9/11 QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied NT = No tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

"T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic Amateur Professional Great Britain & Ireland Europe