Harrington fifth as Toms cruises to wire-to-wire win

Ronan MacNamara
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Padraig Harrington (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Ronan MacNamara

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Pádraig Harrington shot a final round of 68 to finish in fifth place but he was unable to threaten runaway winner David Toms at the Galleri Classic.

Harrington carded five birdies and just one bogey as he ended the week on ten-under, a distant six shots shy of Toms who cruised to victory with a 65 to beat Steven Alker by four.

A blistering back nine of 31 saw the former US PGA champion ease to his second win of the season as he became the first multiple winner of the 2023 season. Birdies on 11, 13, 15, 16 and 18 then saw Toms pull clear of the field and secure a wire-to-wire win.

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Toms, 56, becomes the first player to win twice this season and takes the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, just ahead of Steve Stricker. It is his second win in his past three starts and the first time in his PGA TOUR Champions career that he has won twice in a season.

“I’ve just enjoyed playing good golf right now, off to a good start,” Toms said. “I haven’t really been part of the Charles Schwab Cup at the end, haven’t even been close, so that’s kind of my goal this year is to try to get close, give myself a chance late in the season.

“It was a really good test, you had to keep the ball in the fairway, which was very difficult,” Toms said about the Champions Tour’s inaugural visit to Mission Hills. “Just enough rough to make you think. The greens got firm, so you really need to be in the fairway. Fortunate for me, I kept it in the fairway for the most part. If not, I always had a shot where I had an open green or something, and the putter felt really good the last few days.”

Darren Clarke shot a one-over 73 for a level-par total.

Scoring HERE

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