Pádraig Harrington seems to relish playing at En-Joie Golf Course in New York as a five-under-par Saturday round sees him in prime position to secure his fourth DICK’S Open title in his fourth appearance.
Harrington was reeling in the years early on, making four birdies on the front nine to set the tone. One mishap came at the par-4 11th, but that was quickly forgotten about with two more birdies at the 13th and 16th. Harrington sits one stroke ahead of the pack with a score of 12-under and he’s relying on a strong mental to get the job done.
“I’m just trying to get my head around going out with the lead tomorrow and what emotions I’m going to feel,” Harrington said. “Today, I would’ve liked to get a couple more in the bag, give myself some comfort.”
“Tomorrow I’m going to have to come out and play well and prepare myself for different scenarios, what can happen and deal with it when it happens,” he added.
Harrington admitted it’s sometimes harder to play with a lead, especially when so much talent is chasing you.
“If you’re off the pace, you can start well and get a few birdies, then all of a sudden you have momentum. When you’re leading a tournament, you very rarely have momentum on a Sunday because you’re always a little bit cautious,” he said.
“The problem with 12-under is there’s probably a bunch of guys who can shoot six, seven, eight under par who are going to have a chance tomorrow.”
Harrington is closely followed by Dicky Pride and Thongchai Jaidee who sit just one back on 11-under. Pride was the 18-hole leader but he succumbed to a double-bogey at the par-3 14th on his way to posting a two-under-par 70.
It was a day to forget for Darren Clarke as the Tyrone man was tied with Harrington after round one at seven-under, but the 57-year-old dropped 21 places after a one-over-par second round takes his score to six-under.
John Daly carded the low round of the day for a PGA TOUR Champions career-best nine-under 63 and enters Sunday at eight-under in T13. The 60-year-old seeks his second win on PGA TOUR Champions in his 158th start.
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