Tuesday, February 14, 2012
JP McManus had a shot on his 14 handicap playing the famous 18th hole at Pebble Beach on Sunday.
It set him up nicely for the net birdie that would have enabled him and partner Pádraig Harrington to land the coveted team prize in the AT&T Pro-Am.
However, McManus, in his own words, ‘screwed up’ and had to rely on Harrington getting up and down from a greenside bunker for the par five that saw them share the title with third year pro Brian Harman and partner Illinois businessman Gregg Ontiveros.
McManus admitted: "I knew I needed birdie but I screwed up big time. I was in good shape for my drive."
Considering the team finished 35 under par, with Harrington 10 under on his own card, McManus hardly needs to apologise!
Harrington heaped praise on the Limerick legend: "We have been playing together [for years]. We have played Dunhills in Europe and the AT&T now for a seventh year, and this is the best I’ve seen him play. He hit the golf ball great and putted at times the way pros would like to.
"He holed some great pressure putts. The last two days we were leading and it’s tough when you are leading, you’re cautious and you’re a little bit safer. Even though we had a big lead, you knew it was going to come right down to the stretch. His birdie on 16 was exactly what we needed at the time. We got one on 17 [where Harrington holed from 15 feet for a birdie 2] and obviously 18 was a little bit of a struggle but it worked out."
Given that there was a huge amount at stake for Harrington in the context of his own career, it was again a testimony to his sporting nature and consideration for his partner and close friend that he gave the team element of the tournament his total attention.
Harrington continued: "It’s fantastic for the Tour players that we get to mix with the big stars. We come out and [say] ‘guess who I just had breakfast with?’ It is a buzz for us to be here. Every week we play 72-hole stroke play events so it’s nice to do something different.
"Again, I have a set amateur partner who comes with me every time so I’m going to enjoy the week regardless of how I play or regardless how we do as a team. It’s been a bonus, we have won the Dunhill twice so it’s nice to put this one on as well."
The duo celebrated on Sunday night even if Harrington was disappointed at not having done enough to make it into the top 64 in the world rankings who qualify for next week’s WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona.
His share of seventh earned him a cheque for $206,400 (€155,800) but an improvement of only seven places to 86th in the rankings. He is in Los Angeles this week for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club hoping for a result that would catapult him back into the top 50 and a place in the field for the next WGC event, the Cadillac 72-hole tournament at Doral (March 8-11).
Harrington’s career has been dogged by the number of double bogeys he has run up over the course of his career. Even when he captured the first of his two British Open championships at Carnoustie in 2007, he took six at the par-four 18th in the first and fourth rounds.
The issue returned to haunt him over the weekend as he took seven at the long second at Pebble on Sunday and six at the par-four eighth at Spyglass Hill on Saturday, as well as three other sixes at par-fives.
Pars at those holes would have seen him finish on 17 under, the same mark as winner Phil Mickelson.
Harrington is the only Irishman in the LA field as Rory McIlroy, who has dropped one place to third in the world rankings, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke preserve their energies for the World Match Play.
The golfing world watched in fascination as Mickelson and Tiger Woods played the final round at Pebble Beach together and this time Lefty demolished his long-time nemesis by an unbelievable 11 shots and very possibly put down a marker as far as their rivalry is concerned.
The manner in which Mickelson and wife Amy hugged at the end of it all indicated that putting Tiger in his cage meant as much to them as a magnificent 40th Tour victory brought about by a staggering final round of 64.
The Irish in this week’s Avantha Masters on the European Tour in New Delhi are Gareth Maybin and Paul McGinley.
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