Padraig Harrington Charles Schwab Cup hopes are still alive after he finished with a closing eagle to remain in touch with Steven Alker at the Simmons Bank Championship.
Harrington, a former winner at Pleasant Valley Country Club carded a five-under-par round of 67 to share ninth place but he lies five shots behind Alker who carded a superb 62 to soar into the lead after a closing eagle of his own.
Harrington food himself at three-under after eight holes after birdies on the first, fourth, seventh and eighth but dropped shots on five and nine halted his progress.
The 53-year-old picked up a birdie on the 11th before finishing in style with an eagle at the par-5 18th.
Harrington entered the week in 11th place in the Schwab Cup standings with the Simmons Bank Championship the second of three playoff events and the Dubliner knows he has to win to keep his hopes of a maiden Schwab Cup title alive.
Former Schwab Cup champion Alker was bogey free in his ten-under 62 which included eight befits and an eagle and he holds a two shots lead over Vijay Singh.
Alker matched his low round on the Champions Tour.
“Yeah, it felt great. It’s one of those rounds you just want to keep going. You want to go to the first tee and just keep playing. It was nice to finish that way. Got it going early, hit a lot of iron shots close today, gave myself a lot of chances. That’s the difference between the last few weeks, so I was pleased about that.”
Darren Clarke is on two-over-par after a round of 74.
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