After a blistering 63 in the Friday sunshine, Padraig Harrington followed with a four-under 67 in round two of the PGA Champions Tour’s Hoag Classic and leapfrogs Thongchai Jaidee to sit proud at the top of the leaderboard.
And in many ways, the 67 was the better of the two, as overnight rain, colder temperatures and a stiffish breeze saw the course at Newport Country Club present a very different challenge. Playing alongside Jaidee, Harrington birdied two of the opening three holes but was matched by the Thai, but briefly drew alongside when Jaidee bogeyed the third, but his stint at the top was short lived as Harrington himself would bogey the fourth and remained one behind as they’d each par the following eight holes.
Another bogey at 14 dropped Harrington back to level par for the day which, given how well he’d struck the ball overall, was about the worst he could’ve shot. That all changed over the closing four holes, however, and it all started with an eagle on the par-5 15th which was then followed by back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 and the grandstand finish sees him now a shot ahead of Jaidee, with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul Broadhurst two further back at -9.
“Yeah, the first 14 holes it was the opposite of yesterday,” Harrington reflected post-round. “I seemed to play nicely and not score very well, but then those last four holes make up for it. And I was pushing hard over the last four holes. We don’t know what we’re going to get tomorrow, it was important to be tying the lead by the end of the day if not leading. I think I got my mindset a bit, maybe making a bogey at 14 kind of kicked it off a little bit and it was a nice way to finish. Really, the putt at 16, that didn’t go in as well, so it was — but as I said, I finished strong yesterday, again today. A nice — doesn’t always happen that way, but it’s nice when it does.”
Despite admitting that he’s gone soft over the years and now prefers the sunshine and calm weather, particularly when playing on the Champions Tour circuit, he did admit that the conditions play into his hands, particularly given his length advantage off the tee.
“You know what, it played great for me,” he said, “I’ve got to say. Yeah, it was longer in places, but I was able to use my length quite a bit on a few holes. Yeah, I preferred it today the way it was. Now, I’ve liked it every other day, but I think it played into my hands today, yes.
“There’s a combination of two things. I felt that wherever that each hole that came along, the bunker was at the right distance that I could carry it. Yeah, it was a nice driving — I had a nice driving day in particular. Yeah, I think the setup was perfect. I always prefer when the courses are a little softer off the tee, it makes it longer for everybody else and I can open up my shoulders a bit
more.”
Despite taking the lead into the final round, Harrington is not planning on changing his aggressive approach and expects the challengers, particularly Jaidee, to continue to press.
“No, I thought Thongchai played very well today,” Harrington admitted. “I didn’t think he made any mistakes, did everything well. I would expect him to go out and play well tomorrow. I don’t think you’re going to go out there and — I probably — I’m going to have to go forward. You know, one-shot lead over Thongchai is not enough, he seems to be playing very nicely. Yeah, in my head I’m trying to think of 5, 6 under par would take the rest of the field out and would put a lot of work on Thongchai to keep up with that.”
And when Darren Clarke had birdied three of the first five holes, an unprecedented Irish one-two was a brief possibility, but bogeys on seven and 13 saw him drop back to -1 for the day, and -4 overall, maintaining his position in a tie for 16th.
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