Padraig Harrington was left to rue a disappointing final three holes on day two of the Champions Tour’s Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida, seeing his chances of marking his first Tour start of the season with a victory go up in smoke.
Despite starting his second round with a double-bogey-six, the three-time major champion rebounded with three birdies on the remaining eight on the front side, then reeled off four in a row on the back, starting on the 12th to get to -5 for the day and as high as third on the leaderboard.
A three-putt bogey on 16 killed the momentum a little, but worse was to come when an errant tee shot found the native area on the 17th and he was unable to make much headway, eventually needing an up-and-down from inside the hazard to save double. The disappointment continued at the par-5 18th, when, despite finding the fairway off the tee, he had to settle for par and a round of -2 that could and possibly should have been at least three or four better.
Dropping to a tie for 15th when he’d been within touching distance of the lead was bad enough, but with heavy rain expected on Sunday, tournament organisers announced that the final round – if any play is possible at all – would be shortened to nine holes, meaning any chance of a Harrington final-round charge is all but gone.
“Still flat energy wise, but positive signs with the swing after some winter changes,” was how he summed up the day’s efforts on ‘X’, and he now trails new leader Stephen Ames by eight shots after the Canadian shot a blistering eight-under 64 to leapfrog Rocco Mediate and take a three-stroke advantage into the final nine holes.
Ames made nine birdies, but could so easily have been even farther ahead had he not bogeyed the par-5 15th and failed to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker on the last, but he still beat Mediate by seven on the day, and is four clear of the rest of the pack, spearheaded by Ernie Els, Paul Broadhurst, Mark Hensby and Alex Cejka who occupy a four-way tie for third at -9.
“It is what it is,” Ames said of the prospect of a reduced final round and possible cancellation. “If we get to play tomorrow, we play nine holes, finish at 4:00 or 5:00 and then drive to Miami and off to Morocco. Like everything in life, you’ve got to put things in perspective and go from there. It is what it is. If we play, we’re going to play. If we don’t, yeah, thanks.”
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