Pádraig Harrington flirted with a famous sub-60 round on his way to a thumping seven-shot win at the TimberTech Championship.
Harrington was dreaming of a 59 after roaring out of the traps with six birdies in seven holes but admitted he hit a wall in the middle of the round before a strong finish saw him cruise to a 64 and a sixteen-under total.
“I made plenty of birdies but I struggled in the middle of the round every day so it was nice to get that start,” smiled Harrington who moves to third in the Schwab Cup ahead of the Tour Championship.
Having birdied six of his first seven holes, the three-time major champion dropped a shot at the ninth before a run of four successive pars was broken by two birdies in three holes. He received from a bogey on 17 with a closing birdie to close out the win in style, leaving Charlie Wi and Bernhard Langer in his wake on nine-under with Ernie Els a shot further back.
“I tried to keep riding it to be honest and on number eight I nearly holed for birdie to go seven under and I was working out in my head, ‘This is par 71, you only need to make 12 and that would be a 59’.
“How hard is it to shoot 59 like? I just hit a wall then.”
Darren Clarke shared 19th place after a final round 70 which gave him a three-under total and ensured a safe passage into next week’s finale.
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