Pádraig Harrington saved his best for last at the PGA Champions Tour’s Trophy Hassan II in Morocco, but it was only enough to lift him into a share of sixth as Miguel Angel Jiménez ran out a two-stroke winner over Steven Alker.
It was a case of two steps forward, two steps back for Harrington over the opening two rounds as seven birdies and an eagle were offset by seven bogeys and a double, but he was much more clinical in the final round, at least until the final hole.
A birdie on the eighth was the only deviation from par on the front side, but he added three more birdies on the back, these coming on the par-5 12th, par-3 14th and par-4 17th, but his hopes of a first bogey-free round of the week came to an end at the final hurdle as he signed off with a disappointing bogey-six.
The three-under round of 70 was enough to lift the nine-time Champions Tour winner 18 places on the leaderboard and mark his first appearance of the season on the senior circuit with a tie for sixth.
Jiménez and reigning Order of Merit champion Alker began the day locked at seven-under, and traded the lead back and forth before finding themselves locked together once again as they stood on the 17th tee.
The Spaniard drove the green on the short par-4 and the ball inched its way to near kick-in distance and he drained the eagle putt – Alker could only make par and that proved to be the difference.
“I hit a beautiful driver to like a foot to the hole,” the champion said of the crucial shot. “I’ve been struggling with my driver, catching a little bunker from the tee today. And then have a beautiful drive on the 16th, but then on the 17th, I said OK, same, hitting normal, nice and smooth, that is the perfect — it was the shot of the day, shot of the week.”
Well known for his ability to celebrate, the Spaniard had yet to finalise his plans for the post-victory party, but he assured the media that it would start with wine this evening and likely finish in style back in his native Malaga.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to have a nice bottle of wine for sure, a nice bottle of champagne, a nice bottle of wine, and tomorrow with my wife and with my brothers, we are living 45-minute flight from here, going to be there with them and have a big party,” he said with a wide smile.
Leave a comment