Pádraig Harrington’s hopes of claiming a first 2026 victory appear to be over after falling eight shots back on a low-scoring Saturday at Newport Beach Country Club in California.
The Dubliner narrowly lost out to New Zealand’s Steven Alker in a playoff in last week’s Cologuard Classic, and was hoping to make amends in an event that he won in 2024. An opening five-under 66 had him inside the top 10 going into the penultimate round but while others were going low, it was a frustrating day for the reigning U.S. Senior and Senior Open champion.
Two birdies and two bogeys on the outward nine were followed by eight pars on the back before he signed off with a birdie at the par-5 closing hole, and it drops him back into a share of 21st place at -6.
It was a similarly frustrating day for Darren Clarke who matched Harrington’s 70, but having started the day at -2, he goes into the final round in 40th place at three-under.
While the two Irishmen won’t feature in the final pairings, there is no shortage of heavy hitters at the top.
Ernie Els shares fourth place with Tim Petrovic at -11, while Alker, hoping for back-to-back wins is tied for second with Freddie Jacobson on -12.
The man they all have to catch, however, is Stewart Cink, the reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion.
Cink, like Harrington, opened with a five-under 66 but he was on course to go one better when he reached the 18th tee at six-under for the day. He had other ideas, however, and after a good drive, had 6-iron in hand for his second shot and wouldn’t need his putter as he holed out for a walk-off albatross.
ALBATROSS FOR STEWART CINK 🤯
It’s just the second double eagle in @HoagClassic history! pic.twitter.com/0LbUVGO3my
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 28, 2026
“Yeah, it was a heck of a walk-off,” he said. “Hit a great drive. A hole like that for this course is a pretty wide fairway and you just really want to eat up as much yardage as you can off the tee. So that was as good as I can hit one. I left myself only a 6-iron to the green.
“To be honest, I wasn’t aiming over there towards the flag. I hit a little bit of a push, but I hit it really solid. I knew when it took off it was going to be the right distance, but is it going to go in the hole. You never know that, it’s luck from that point. But when the crowd reacted, it was pretty awesome.”
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