14:36 – Sergio makes. Harrington does too and is the 136th Open Champion winner and the Champion Golfer of the Year.
14:35 – Sergio’s birdie putt somehow misses high! It looked in from the get-go, but it slides just outside of Padraig’s ball!! If Sergio misses, it’s over. If he makes, Padraig must make to win outright.
14:34 – Harrington’s par putt rolls three to four feet past the cup, right on Sergio’s line.
14:31 – Harrington absolutely yanks his wedge from about 100 yards. He’s five to ten feet outside of Sergio’s ball and barely on the green! Two putts will win this tournament for him at least 9 times out of 10. Azinger: “that’s a free read for Sergio Garcia.”
14:27 – Harrington is going to lay up. He has about 190 to the cartpath, Faldo guesses. Padraig lays up just short of the crosswalk. Faldo: “Probably a good full wedge from there.” Sergio from the rough, 203 yards out and from a slight upslope with the wind back into him… he hits a 6-iron. It’s a mile in the air, tugged slightly, and finds the green 20 feet from the pin. He’ll have that putt to really force Harrington’s hand.
14:22 – Harrington is going with a hybrid off the 18th tee. The wind is off the right. He finds the fairway, gets no run, and is “way back” from the pin. Sergio now with the driver… Sergio pulls it into the left rough but the ball sits up. Azinger: “perfect lie and a perfect angle.”
14:18 – Sergio catches the left lip with his 18-footer for birdie and taps in for par. Harrington tugs his putt a little bit left, giving him a two-shot lead heading to 18. Azinger says that forces Padraig to be a little more aggressive off 18.
14:13 – Padraig forces Garcia’s hand with a great shot to the 17th green. Garcia’s shot elicits groans, but it stops at about 20 feet. Harrington is about four feet from birdie and a likely three-shot lead (cue the announcers talking about Van de Velde again if so).
14:10 – Both players find the fairway at the 17th.
14:06 – Padraig putts deftly up the hill to save his par. Sergio has his 20-footer for birdie to get one back. Faldo disagrees that the ball hitting the flag was a bad break. It looked to me like it was slowing down and the flagstick kicked it. Garcia’s birdie putt comes up short. Is he feeling a tight feeling in the esophageal region?
14:00 – Harrington’s hybrid goes just a bit left in the chipping area below the green, pin high. Garcia hits 3-iron, it takes two hops, then hits the pin eight inches above the cup. His ball comes to a stop about 20 feet away from the cup. That may have been a bit of bad luck – it may have stopped closer had it not hit the pin.
13:59 – Faldo: “Can you imagine what Sergio is feeling now? He’s just had a putt to win and now he’s two shots back, three to play.”
13:56 – Sergio’s blast comes to rest just on the green about 12 feet from the cup. He’ll putt for par before Harrington’s birdie effort. From behind, we see a bit of a shove and the ball misses right. Garcia is in with five. Harrington makes and leads by two with three holes to go.
13:52 – Sergio fats it into the bunker short and right. Andy North says it’s buried under the lip of the bunker. Harrington from the fairway… sticks it to nine feet!
13:51 – The Sergio/Michelob commercial with the lines “tough drive” and “there’s nothing like a good up and down” comes at an appropriate time, I suppose.
13:49 – Faldo: “Now with a massive Irish contingent, he’ll [Sergio] be the underdog.” Padraig finds the fairway, Sergio the right rough.
13:45 – Azinger: “There’s Bob Rotella with Padraig” on the putting green. “Sergio was asked about sports psychologists and said ‘eh, I don’t need it.'” How much longer do we have to wait until they actually play off?
13:29 – Tirico: “Sergio Garcia for his first major.” It lips out on the left edge! He’ll tap in for a playoff with Padraig Harrington! The playoff’s four holes start at one and then move to 16, 17, and 18. The European drought is over (barring a double-DQ, of course).
13:27 – Sergio blasts to eight or ten feet.
13:23 – Sergio finds the bunker short and left on the 18th. He must get up and down to win outright. And, of course, we’re treated to yet another Van de Velde montage. Groan.
13:17 – Sergio hits an iron off the 18th tee to the fairway, but faces a long approach. Azinger: “almost 250 yards for his second.” Faldo: “You have to throw in it’s 210 over that burn! Sorry!” OB left also looms large.
DiMarco finishes with a 75 and a +1 total. He’ll finish outside the top ten, and currently, Tiger Woods (-2) is T12 with only Steve Stricker (-3) realistically with a chance to drop enough shots to get Tiger into T11. McGinley finishes -1 with a 73.
13:12 – Harrington is in with double at the 18th after fidning the burn twice. Patrick, Padraig’s son, is held back by his wife Caroline at first, then runs onto the green to congratulate his dad on… losing? We shall see. Faldo: “Four to win, five to tie, six to lose.”
13:10 – Harrington likely avoids giving Sergio a Van de Veldian lead, as his fifth skips to a stop three or four feet beyond the flag. He’ll likely double the hole to fall one back of Sergio.
13:08 – Garcia makes par at the 17th. Will he come to the 18th with a two- or three-shot lead, just like Jean eight years earlier? How will he play it? Sergio will be forced to wait several minutes on the tee because DiMarco and McGinley are between Harrington and Garcia.
13:04 – Harrington has 235 to the pin at 18. Sergio finds the fairway at 17, and from there, finds the green about 35 feet from the pin, just carrying the front right bunker. Harrington, with a 5-iron for his third, doesn’t like it. It’s fat, left, and in the burn again!! Azinger: “I don’t want to say it, but Romero could be back in the picture.” Harrington will be hitting his fifth shot.
13:01 – Good example of the dry British humor, Faldo: “It’s like the first night of a camping holiday with your girlfriend – the excitement’s intense/in tents!”
12:57 – Azinger: “It’s a three-ring circus out there right now.” Padraig’s ball is right in Sergio’s line off the 17th tee. Andy North: “Could you write this if you were writing a movie?” I’m reminded of something I once heard about Andy North: “The next time Andy North has an original thought will be the first time.”
12:55 – Harrington finds the burn right of 18! He hits a pop-up to the right, the ball bounces across a little walkway, and on its final hop deflects to the right, hits the burn wall, and bounces back into the water. Garcia saves par at the 16th – he’ll likely be the leader (tied or sole) very soon. A horrible tee shot from Harrington!
12:50 – Padraig has won 13 times on the two tours: 11 on the European and 2 on the PGA. His 35-foot birdie putt at the 17th is weak and comes to a stop short and right. He’ll par and head to 18 where he’ll face “perhaps the most difficult tee shot in championship golf” (Azinger).
12:46 – Garcia with his nine-footer at 15: never had a chance. Misses right the whole way. Azinger: “Awful.” Harrington -9, Garcia -8. I’d handicap them as follows: Harrington 74% chance to win, Garcia 24%. I’m still leaving 2% chance for an utter collapse. 🙂
12:43 – Garcia has about nine feet to save par at the 15th. Harrington hits hybrid up the right side of the 17th fairway. We again go to commercial. Disgusting, ABC. “Dirty Sexy Money” is right. 😛
12:37 – Harrington misses his seven footer at 16. Garcia’s second to the 15th comes up well short and into a hollow 20 yards short of the front of the green, outside of a bunker.
12:32 – Harrington stuffs a hybrid to about seven feet at the long par-three 16th. Many predicted Harrington would win this year. He won last week playing links golf in the Irish Open against club pros. Romero’s par putt at the 18th lips out. No pars since the 7th, -6 total and a 67 today.
12:29 – Enough with the commercials ABC. Seriously. Is this the seventh commercial break already this hour?
12:26 – Garcia from 100 feet at the 14th puts the ball to about seven feet. Harrington pars the 15th. Garcia holes the birdie putt to get back to -9 with Harrington. Stricker, for what it’s worth, is still at -5 and is T4. Romero’s chip at 18 is 15 feet short.
12:22 – Romero, after striping the ball at 18, has only 180 in and has an 8-iron in his hands (supposedly – the caddie may be throwing us off). He one-hands it and nearly pulls the ball out of bounds left. He has a good chance to get up and down for par to post -7. It would be his first par since the 7th hole.
12:10 – Garcia holes out for birdie back at the 13th. He’s one back of Romero, who’s already hit four at the par-four 17th. Harrington’s second at the par-five 14th finds the fringe, 12 feet away from eagle. Harrington knocks it down and climbs into the lead at -9, with Sergio one behind. Note to those in charge at Augusta: eagles and birdies are exciting!!!
12:06 – Andres Romero shares an agent with Eduardo Romero. The agent’s name? Sergio. On 17 and with a 2-iron from a nasty, horrible lie, the ball ricochets off the side of the burn and hits the ball out of bounds across and right of 18. Faldo: “Why hit a 2-iron”? He has a two-shot lead and instead of pitching out, he went for it. Now, hitting his fourth, he switches to a 3-iron, then switches to a fairway wood and chases the ball onto the green.
12:00 – Romero birdies the 16th. He’s now at -9 and two shots clear. His card on the back nine: birdie, birdie, double, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. He’s seven under today, and let me point out that Romero is not European. On 17, he finds a nasty lie right of the fairway. His birdie streak is likely over.
11:53 – Romero knocks down a long birdie at the 15th. He has nine birdies (and an eagle) in 15 holes today. Tirico: “Were it not for an unplayable and a double earlier…” He leads at -8.
11:47 – Harrington lips out, Tiger lips out on 18. Sergio drives off 12 and finds the fairway but only six yards from the ditch to the right. Els fails to save par at the 13th, the short par three, from the bunker. He falls back to -5 with Stricker, two back of three at -7.
11:39 – Andres Romero birdies the 14th to join Garcia and Harrington in the lead at -7. Richard Green still has the clubhouse lead at -5.
11:30 – Garcia misses his four-footer for birdie at the 10th. Lack of speed let the ball die a little low and left. Stricker saved par and stays at -5, two back of Harrington and Garcia. Els remains at -6.
11:28 – Stricker pitches out. Garcia stuffs it to four feet at 10. Romero to seven feet at 13. Live, Romero makes the birdie to get back to -6, one back.
11:25 – Stricker yanked his drive on 10 with a 3W and Sergio found the fairway with a driver. Sergio has played the back well this week, but it wasn’t the final round earlier this week, either. Still, this hole is more critical for Stricker: a bogey here may very well end his chances. Harrington makes his birdie and ties for the lead.
11:17 – Sergio turns for home in 38, +2. Romero will double bogey the 12th to fall back from the lead, which he never even held on a tee. Stricker lips another three-footer, this time for par, and falls back to -5. He turns in 37, +1. The intestinal fortitude he talked about needing yesterday didn’t arrive. Now Harrington and Els are within one, and Harrington has three feet for a birdie to tie the lead at 11.
11:10 – We watch Tiger’s missed par putt at 15. He’s -1 and six back, and four back of the clubhouse leader. Why are we still watching Tiger hit nominal putts and shots? Then we see Tiger teeing off on 16. How about some better camera work on Romero’s unplayable lie?
11:04 – Garcia bogeys the 8th from just off the green right. His old putting stroke appears to have returned. Sergio is now tied for the lead and Stricker pars to stay one back. Romero is in a gorse bush on the 12th.
10:55 – Andres Romero (of Argentina, but not related to Eduardo Romero) holes out from a bunker after chunking his approach at the 11th and climbs to -7 and takes second place alone, two back of Sergio. Shortly after, Sergio bogeys the seventh to drop to -8. His playing companion, Stricker, is two back and could be tied if he could have made a few near tap-ins.
10:40 – Garcia completely yanks his five-foot birdie putt left and four feet past the hole. He’s still outside Stricker’s three-footer for birdie. His par putt barely, barely catches the right side and falls in. Stricker lips out again. That’s at least two lip-outs, but Faldo says “3, 5, and 6.” Garcia -9, Els, Stricker, Romero -6, a few others -5.
10:38 – Stricker and Garcia, from less than optimal position, both put it to inside five feet at the sixth. They’ll finish this hole almost 90 minutes after they teed off (9:20) and are on pace to finish in about 4:15 to 4:30.
10:31 – Azinger: “It’s almost become a science to optimize your distance. Part of the reason guys are bombing it this day and age is because of technology, not steroids.”
10:29 – “This is not a watered down version of the Internet.” It’s an iPhone. As much as like Apple, again, seeing the same commercials every two hours gets old really fast. Were it not for the live blog, I’d just be starting my watching now so I could fast forward through commercials and catch up just about the same time the leaders are playing the last hole.
10:27 – Stricker’s 3W at the sixth: 106 MPH and 158 MPH ball speed with 251 yards of carry. Sergio, with driver, 120 MPH, 177 MPH, and 280 yards.
10:20 – Stricker makes a mental mistake and duffs it in the bunker short at the fifth. Richard Green, forced to lay up at the 18th, has a 10-footer for his 63. He’d miss just left and shoot 64.
10:13 – Sergio misses right at the fifth and his ball sits four feet above the bunker and just on the lip. Sergio will likely have to lay up. Stricker is in good shape in the fairway. Did Stricker’s shot and putt put the pressure on Sergio? Alliss: “Moments like this make you wish you’d taken up the game left-handed.”
10:09 – Richard Green birdies the 17th after getting a nice bounce to get to -8 for his round. A par at the last and he ties the lowest final round (63) in a major. My hunch is that it still won’t shut Miller up. 🙂 Garcia -10, Stricker -7, Green at -6, a few others -5 and -4.
10:06 – Stricker hits a solid 8-iron to about 18 inches at the third. I wonder if the missed birdie on the last hole will be the deciding difference at the end of the day.
09:59 – Sergio holes a four-foot putt for birdie after stuffing a wedge at the third. Stricker, form inside of him, blocks it right and lips out. We see Tiger, now eight back, at the 10th, and Tirico says Tiger has topped the clubhead speed and ball speed charts for the week.
09:42 – Garcia, from the left rough on the second, leaves himself “about a 38-yard putt.” Both he and Stricker would two putt for pars. Garcia’s short putting looks solid this week. Woods earlier bogeyed the par-three eighth from the bunker to fall back to -2, seven back. It’s unlikely Tiger will even add to his second-place finish total.
09:33 – DiMarco birdies the second to get to -4. It’s tough to get excited when he’s still five back of Garcia. Yawn.
09:21 – Sergio’s opening tee shot: down the middle. Stricker’s: yanked left. Both would later find the green but face long putts and both would par.
09:17 – We’re “treated” to a long story about the European drought in majors. My early vote: it ends today. Sergio will have to overcome himself to win today even if nobody makes a large enough move to scare him.
09:13 – Azinger rightly criticizes Tiger for laying up off the tee on the sixth. His third is yanked long and left.
09:00 – Peter Dawson on equipment: “We really have to become scientists. It’d be a boring game if technology completely took over. Many think it’s gone far enough, but you can’t stifle creativity completely.”
08:59 – Woods moves to -3 at the fifth and has the par-five sixth next to play. Ho hum. He’s six shots back of a guy who has yet to tee off in soft, scoreable conditions.
08:41 – Tiger nearly holes out for eagle on the fourth hole. He’s still -1 but should get to -2 shortly. Has Tiger had his A game even one time this year? I know he has three wins, but even in those he wasn’t all there.
08:37 – Sergio is seen on the range hitting a heavy club (that’s not the Momentus). Heavy clubs are good, but in my experience, something as heavy as the Momentus is not a very good warm-up.
08:30 – On lift, clean, and cheat: the answer is no, as it probably should be. Balls in fairways are still rolling out a little. Sean Micheel is seen taking a drop (in the bunker) from casual water in a bunker.
08:27 – If nothing else, The Masters beats every other major in showing only four minutes of commercials per hour.
08:16 – Yet more Van de Velde. All I have to say is that I think he’s handled it incredibly well, and he did in 1999 too. Best wishes to him with his recent medical issues.
08:11 – First Tiger live action shot: he misses a birdie putt at the first and remains at -1. Will Woods win a major in 2007?
08:07 – One question is answered: Sergio seems to be wearing white slacks and a green top. Much better.
08:03 – The course is sopping wet and they have the squeegees out. Will they be playing lift, clean, and cheat today? Could get some nasty lies in the rough if the ball plugs, mud in the fairways, and bunkers will be tough.
08:01 – ABC opens with a Van de Velde montage. I’m so tired of seeing Jean make 7.
08:00 – Three questions today: 1) Will Sergio choke away a major or, with nobody except the fragile Steve Stricker within six shots of him, will he walk to his first? 2) Will a belly or long putter finally win a major (and should they be banned)? and 3) What will Sergio be wearing – will it be as bad as last year?
Romero’s 2nd on 17 an ABC drops the ball on the most important shot of the tournament.
They’re using BBC cameras, and they don’t have a blimp. I can’t really blame ABC for that one.
I’ve never hoped for a putt to go in so much in my time as a golf fan. Sergio definitely had his chance, and he hit a pretty decent putt. It just wasn’t hit time…….for now at least.
I would have taken odds that Sergio would choke. However, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, I thought Sergio had as fine an opportunity as he would ever have and, he seemed to have matured a bit to get the job done. I played a round with friends that began with a warmup at 8:00a.m., and a tee time at 9:00a.m. We finished about 1:30 central time, had lunch and missed any chance of watching the Open live. Two thoughts on hearing the result: 1) good for Harrington! He’s been a grinder for years, seems to be a good fellow and he actually won the tournament as much as Sergio lost it, and 2) while not a Sergio fan, I couldn’t help but hope he wouldn’t choke – that’s the last thing you want to see anyone do but, given his history, you just couldn’t count out the big choke and, in this respect, he didn’t disapoint. Ah, the rub of the green can be so very cruel.
Once again Carnoustie was responsible for more chokes than the Boston strangler.
Harrington played beautifully for 15 and a half holes and deservedly had one hand on the claret jug until he spectacularly choked over his short birdie putt on 16, then even more spectacularly choked on the 18th, chunking his third shot short into the burn before limping home with a double for a still respectable 67.
Romero also had his chances before gagging under pressure on 17.
Stricker started gagging very early and was never sighted.
Garcia didn’t choke quite as spectacularly the others, he slowly asphyxiated throughout the entire round. You just knew he’d miss that winning putt on 18, but his mental error on the 18th tee to go with iron, leaving him 250 into the wind for his approach, was more resonsible for his bogey than the poor execution of the putt. His strategy of using irons off the tees, on a day when the course was yielding birdies and the rest of the field was shooting low numbers, was poor strategy as it placed him under pressure to make pars on holes when he could have been looking at birdies. He tried to do a Tiger and grind out a victory by protecting a lead with pars, when conditions dictated he should have been thinking more of birdies.
Garcia was bemoaning his bad luck but at the end of the day all he needed to shoot was 1 over on a day when everybody else was shooting under par. That he couldn’t do it indicates he is a choker of Normanesque proportions. I think he has just leap frogged Lefty as the biggest choker in golf and will need nothing short of a major victory to shake the tag. Which I don’t think he will get.