THURSDAY, BBC 2, 9AM Live coverage begins with. . .the Barry Burn. And Jean Van. The weather is "very dreich and dreary, " muses Peter Alliss. KJ Choi is the early leader, four under after six.

"Only 66 more to go, " he says.

Tiger's on the prowl. "Imperious" and "genius".

"Darren Clarke is starting to show form, " according to Mark James. McGinley goes into red territory. "McGinley. . . for the outright leadf the Irish leading the Openf shades of Fred Daly". McGinley is "the man who won us the Ryder Cup, " recalls Ken Brown. Then comes 'The Rory Story'. "He doesn't lack confidence, " observes Alliss.

"Eighteen years of fearless, " says Sam Torrance. Harrington, after a 69, is interviewed.

"It was a good day for the Irish, Padraig, " pipes Hazel Irvine. Harrington says he "feels at home" in Carnoustie.

Sergio is home in 65.

FRIDAY, BBC2, 9AM Rory McIlroy, "The big story" . . . Brown . . . "with his strange charisma" . . . James . . . is struggling a mite. As is McGinley.

Harrington's putter is hot.

"That's a couple of nice treacherous putts he rolled in, " Alliss informs us. Meanwhile, Garcia's hack and hope chip out of rough at the first is acclaimed as "the shot of the Championship" by Torrance. Out of real time, Harrington is featured in instruction vignettes.

One highlights 'hybrids'.

Another illustrates the need to avoid "too much back or side spin". Alliss muses that the "only thing lacking in Padraig's resume is a Major."

FRIDAY, BBC 2, 7.15PM Today at the Open. Despite a bad day for the Irish, Craig Doyle celebrates the Irish as if they hadn't all overparred today. Sergio is hailed as "another Ballesteros".

SATURDAY, BBC 1, 10AM Every time McIlroy is mentioned Alliss waxes lyrical about Jimmy Bruen, plugs a special Fred Daly diamond celebration and reminisces about his own Open debut at Daly's Hoylake Open. Harrington is forgotten. Els is back in the frame and Tiger is hanging in. Garcia almost kills a lensman at the 17th. "I didn't hear too many cries of fore, " says Alliss. The "young Severiano" has a 68 which matches the virtually unnoticed Harrington.

SATURDAY, BBC 2, 10.45PM Today at the Open. Torrance thinks it's Garcia's jug. Tiger is "not on his game". Only Els can challenge. No mention of his Dad's hardest pupil. Yet.

SUNDAY, BBC 2, 11AM Seve in Spain says Garcia can win. "The Championship is in his hands." The Beeb seems to think so. They show montages of Garcia's highlights over the past three days. No sign of his many lucky breaks. Alliss declares that "today you need a strong heart , a good caddie and a bit of good fortune".

We see tons of Westwood , going nowhere. Acres of Tiger, moving backwards. McGinley is drifting out. Harrington is closing in. Sergio reaches the four stroke comfort zone. Stricker is putterstricken. Garcia is leaking shots. "He needs to stop the bleeding, " says Torrance. Harrington is the invisible but not inaudible. Torrance has started to adopt him: "He's so ready, Padraig. He's so ready".

Harrington is in the winning zone. Alliss accuses Harrington of a "monstrous piece of good luck. The luck of the Irish." There are some breaks coming Garcia's way too. The BBC continues to showcase Justin Rose and Els though both are clearly out of the frame. Torrance has adopted Harrington. At the 16th tee:

"Hello, hello hello, the shot of the championship. With all the pressure. That was as good as it gets."

The camera dwells on Ernie putting out so we miss Harrington, now leader by two, striding to the 18th tee. Alliss launches into a comically epic vignette of post-Championship Carnoustie. Harrington misfires. "Would you believe it, he lashed it and pushed it, " says Alliss.

The "gladiators" meet on the bridge. "Not a word, " says Alliss. Harrington's duffed second. Into Barry Burn again.

"Not quite Van de Velde but not a million miles away. . . I can't believe what I'm seeing, " says Alliss.

Harrington regroups and gets what he calls "the best six I ever got." Garcia bunkers his second iron and has an eight -foot putt to win. "No! It's a play-off, " says Alliss.

But in no time at all it's down to the wire. "This is it.

This for the first championship for the Irish since 60 years ago. A wonderful day for the Irish and they deserve it . So much Ireland has given to the world of golf, to the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup , the women's game, " continues Alliss.

The tricolour is brandished and Sergio is grim. Padraig makes a speech he had been preparing for yonks. Sometimes it helps to wait.

SUNDAY, BBC 2, 11.05PM Today at the Open. Padraig does figure . . . just about. Mainly it's about Sergio and how he blew it. The day's narrative . . .

after the style of the real time coverage . . . follows Sergio's stumble rather than Harrington's surge.

There followed a last melancholic piece about Garcia's loss and then a montage of images which were heavy on Garcia and very light on Harrington. If it wasn't for the tricolour you might have wondered who won.