Luck of the Irish: Padraig Drives Away with the Honda

Vijay Singh lipped out no more than a three foot putt on the second playoff hole and the Irishman Padraig Harrington has captures his first victory on the PGA Tour four days shy of St. Patrick’s Day. Harrington, who started the day 8 back of the leaders and finished more than 90 minutes before the third-round leaders, fired a course-record 63 to Singh’s 64 to get into the playoff. Joe Ogilvie – not third-round leader Geoff Ogilvy – fired a 68 to get into the playoff, but was eliminated on the first hole with a bogey.

Padraig Harrington had a 59 in his sights. With birdies at 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 he went out in 30 before birdieing the first four holes on the back – a string of six consecutive birdies. -10 through 13, Harrington bogeyed 14 and 15 before birdieing the par-5 17th to get back to -14. Singh played equally as well, with birdies on 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, and 17. He bogeyed the third but offset that with an eagle at the par-5 sixth.

The leaders, who began the day at -12, fell back with a pair of 73s. Brett Wetterich, the leader as late as his 12th hole, triple-bogeyed the par-4 13th. His drive found the left rough, he put his ball well over the green and into a hazard, pitched short only to have the ball roll back down a slope, pitched on again, and two-putted for the seven. He bogeyed 15 and couldn’t manage a birdie at the par-5 17th to finish at -11 with playing partner Geoff Ogilvy, who bogeyed 11 and 12 before double-bogeying the finishing hole after driving into a divot. A birdie would have secured a spot in the playoff.

Joe Ogilvie had a 20-foot putt on the 18th to win, but came up inches short and left to get into the playoff with a par. His bogey-free 68 featured birdies at 6, 7, 12, and 17.

Joe Ogilvie, Padraig Harrington, and Vijay Singh played the difficult 476-yard par-4 18th, which played to a stroke average of 4.38 in the final round. Ogilvie promptly pulled his drive into the front lip of a fairway bunker. Harrington drove the ball well right into the rough. Singh found the fairway, a yard from the divot he’d made only 30 minutes prior. Ogilvie pitched out, yanked his approach left, and failed to hole the pitch. Harrington played left and made a fantastic pitch over the bunker that hit, bounced a few inches, and stopped. He made the three-footer – from just left of where Singh would eventually miss. Singh put his approach over the pin to about 20 feet, and missed the birdie putt just right.

Harrington and Singh again played 18, and Singh put his tee shot within a square yard of his previous two attempts. Harrington, from a few feet away, again pulled his shot left, but long, onto a downslope 25 yards from the pin. Singh didn’t fare much better with his approach, pulling it left. He had the easier shot, with an upslope. Padraig pitched to six feet, and Vijay to three. Harrington made his right-edge putt, and Singh played it a bit too firm. The putt lipped out, and Harrington captured the title.

It’s believed that this is the first victory by a Republic of Ireland citizen on the PGA Tour. Darren Clarke has won, but Clarke hails from Northern Ireland. Harrington will be able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style, cashing in a $990,000 first-place check and his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Pos  Player              Today   Tot    R1    R2    R3    R4    Tot
1*    Padraig Harrington  -9     -14    73    69    69    63    274
T2   Vijay Singh          -8     -14    71    69    70    64    274
T2   Joe Ogilvie          -4     -14    73    66    67    68    274
4    Pat Perez            -2     -13    69    69    67    70    275
5    David Toms           -5     -12    71    71    67    67    276
T6   Brad Faxon           -7     -11    69    71    72    65    277
T6   Geoff Ogilvy         +1     -11    73    67    64    73    277
T6   Brett Wetterich      +1     -11    66    66    72    73    277
T9   Lucas Glover         -9     -10    70    71    74    63    278
T9   Jim Furyk            -4     -10    71    69    70    68    278
T11  Billy Andrade        -6      -9    69    69    75    66    279
T11  Aaron Baddeley       -5      -9    68    72    72    67    279
T11  Greg Owen            -4      -9    72    70    69    68    279
* Won in a two-hole playoff.

Next week, the PGA Tour ventures to Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational, an event Tiger Woods has won four of the past five years. His string was broken by Chad Campbell last year.

Tap-In: It’s worth noting that Padraig Harrington, a Wilson Staff player, has been playing the Titleist Pro V1x for the past year unpaid. Just this week he signed a deal with Titleist.

Photo Credit: Al Messerschmidt.