Padraig Harrington is just four shots back of the lead and Seamus Power looks safely through to the weekend as darkness suspended play in round two of the Bermuda Championship.
Harrington, competing in his first PGA Tour event since the first week in March, looked at home in much windier conditions on Atlantic Ocean island as a stiff wind proved a real leveller for the field. Although the Ryder Cup captain returned a modest even par effort after trading two birdies with two bogeys on Friday, his round of 71 saw him rise three places on the board to tied 12th, just four shots back of joint-leaders, Ryan Armour and Wyndham Clarke.
Harrington has been able to draw on fond memories so far this week in making his first appearance in Bermuda since taking Ernie Els’ place to capture the 2012 four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf and also gave a nostalgic nod to his amateur days playing the West of Ireland Championship given the strength of Friday’s steady gale.
Serious warm up today. Like the good old days at the West of Ireland, trying to hit shots over your own head. I’m not as good as I used to be. @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/VSBv3Lfalf
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) October 30, 2020
Meanwhile, the three-time Major winner’s Olympic teammate, Seamus Power also looks destined for a pay cheque this week despite the cut-mark still being projected at this stage. The West Waterford professional faced an anxious wait after grinding to a three-over par round of 74 on day two and although he dropped 12 places down the board, the late starters struggled too with Power now inside the cut-line right on the number at plus-one, currently tied 58th.
Indeed, everyone felt the task toughen as the winds blew in on Friday, and even the leaders weren’t immune. Co-leader Clarke added a 68 to his opening 66 but admits conditions were chalk and cheese comparing days’ one and two.
“Yeah, it’s night and day,” said Clarke. “Yesterday I felt like I left a lot of shots out there and I shot 5 under and today, I mean, until hole 7 I felt like I didn’t leave any shots and I was 5 under. So played a lot tougher, but I’m overall pretty pleased with how I played.”
Armour meanwhile squeezed out a 70 to add to his opening 64 and admits he relished the challenge the wind presented.
“I enjoy it, I enjoy the challenge of it,” he said. “Today was really hard. I was just telling him that we didn’t know whether to say get up, get down, what to tell it. We couldn’t judge the distance very well and we had some balls going sideways out there and my ball doesn’t usually go sideways, and it would just get up in the wind and it would go 20 yards further left or right than you wanted it to.”
Full scoring HERE
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