Padraig Harrington won the British Open for the second time at the weekend - with his former putting guru wishing the popular Irishman had lifted a Claret & Blue Jug.

'The Putting Doctor' Harold Swash was Harrington's putting coach for many years and the Irish golfer acknowledges the fundamentals he learned under the Birmingham-born expert have stood him in good stead over the past few seasons.

Swash has followed the fortunes of his beloved Villa for over 50 years. The 75-year-old had a season playing for Villa as an amateur - in the days when Bob Iverson and George Cummings were coaches.

Harold said: "Unfortunately I have not been to see a match now for quite a few years.

"Having lived up here in Southport for over 40 years now it has not been a very easy thing to be a Villa supporter living among the Liverpudlians, Evertonians and Mancunians, but I still follow the Villa progress all the time."

When he hung up his boots, he became obsessed with putting, fascinated by the way the balls rolled on his father's snooker table.

As a qualified engineer he took a scientific approach, inventing putters and eventually working with players of the calibre of six-times major champion Nick Faldo.

But the big breakthrough came in 1995 when Harold invented the C-Groove, which was the most significant advance ever made in putter technology, from the workshop next to his Hillside home.

South African Retief Goosen used one of Harold's putters to win his first US Open while David Howell, Oliver Fisher, James Kingston and Peter Lawrie have all won using a C-Groove.