Harrington still in hunt as Irish fizzle in drizzle
Harrington compiled another tidy round of 69 to move to six under, five shots behind Ernie Els, but still very much in the hunt.
Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell are on one under after rounds of 72 and 70, but Paul McGinley is towards the back of the field having soared to 75 for one over.
Harrington played beautifully from tee to green but the putter let him down a number of times. He has little chance of overtaking Els if he doesn’t show vast improvement in this area.
Harrington’s five birdies yesterday were of the tap-in variety, four coming at the par fives, but overall he had good reason to be pleased with his performance over a waterlogged course.
He hit some glorious shots, notably a three iron to the heart of the 17th green and a deftly played chip from thick rough at the back of the 18th which all but holed out.
“It was a lot better than Thursday,” the Dubliner said.
“Going out, I felt a score was going to be harder to come by and three under is a good, solid round, where as yesterday I thought 69 was only just okay. I need to hole a few putts. I’ve holed one eight- footer in two days.”
He added: “You can’t shoot low numbers unless you sink a few putts so hopefully I’ve saved them for the weekend. It’s particularly disappointing because the greens are so good. When you’re not seeing putts go in the hole, you start getting tentative with your reading of the lines.
“I had a 15-footer up the hill for eagle at 17, a very straightforward putt, and I made no effort at all,” he admitted.
“You just have to be patient. When they start going in, they keep going in and you can see yourself do no wrong. I’ve only had eight birdies in the two days and most of them came on the par fives.”
But what of the weather conditions?
“The showers were difficult. I hit a really good drive at the first today and it finished 60 yards short of where I was yesterday. I hit a six iron where I would normally hit nine at the first. It got cold and the ball didn’t travel but once you kept it on the fairway, it was playable.”
Making up the numbers. That was Darren Clarke’s gloomy view of things after an even par round of 72 left him one under par and too far back to make an impression on the leaders.
He was out in the worst of the elements and just couldn’t cope.
“It was a battle from start to finish,” he groaned.
“The conditions were brutal and got the better of me. It’s a pity but all I can do now is look forward to next week’s Dunhill Championship at St Andrews.”
Clarke began with three bogeys, visiting sand at the first and second and the lake at the short third, where he did well to get up and down from 108 yards to avoid dropping more than the single shot.
He hung in, picking up strokes at each of the par fives and another at the 16th, but there were further concessions at the 17th and 18th. He cut a sodden, disconsolate figure as he trudged off towards the clubhouse, a contrast in many ways to his fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, who came home in 32 for a commendable round of 70 in the conditions.
“I’ve been working on a few things over the past few weeks and everything seems to be clicking into place,” said McDowell, who joins Clarke on the one under par mark.
“It’s a work in progress and it’s been easier with the irons than the woods but I’m looking forward to the next few weeks. I know there’s a good week in me before the end of the season.”
Paul McGinley was bitterly disappointed with a 75 that shot him to the back of the field, meaning he will be playing for little more than pride through the weekend.
He slumped to four over after three as the wind and rain lashed the course and the players.
“You can’t afford that kind of start at this level. The final straw was a six at the 10th where I was playing a three-quarters sand wedge for my third and duffed it into a bunker.”
:
133 - E. Els (RSA) 69-64
135 - T. Hamilton (USA) 66-69, M.A. Jimenez (SPA) 67-68
136 - J. Leonard (USA) 68-68
137 - L. Westwood 68-69, R. Goosen (RSA) 68-69, T. Bjorn (DEN) 68-69, S. Flesch (USA) 67-70
138 - B. Faxon (USA) 70-68, P. Harrington (Irl) 69-69, A. Cabrera (ARG) 69-69, D. Howell 69-69, T. Woods (USA) 68-70, L. Donald 67-71
139 - P. Lonard (AUS) 69-70, Z. Johnson (USA) 68-71, S. Garcia (SPA) 67-72
140 - F. Couples (USA) 73-67, S. Maruyama (JPN) 70-70, J. Furyk (USA) 70-70, S. Drummond 69-71
141 - B. Tway (USA) 71-70, R. Sabatini (RSA) 71-70, C. Franco (PAR) 69-72, B. Lane 69-72, N. O'Hern (AUS) 68-73, A. Scott (AUS) 67-74, S. Appleby (AUS) 67-74
142 - P. Casey 72-70, R. Green (AUS), T. Immelman (RSA) 71-71, J. Haeggman (SWE) 71-71, D. Botes (RSA) 70-72, J. Kelly (USA) 69-73, R. Allenby (AUS) 68-74
143 - D. Love (USA) 74-69, G. McDowell 73-70, J. Haas (USA) 72-71, J.F. Remesy (FRA) 72-71, D. Clarke 71-72, J. Kaye (USA) 70-73, P. Senior (AUS) 69-74
144 - T. Levet (FRA) 73-71, S. Cink (USA) 71-73, D. Toms (USA) 70-74, A. Cejka (GER) 70-74, C. DiMarco (USA) 69-75
145 - S. Ames (CAN) 73-72, C. Riley (USA) 70-75, P. McGinley 70-75
146 - M. Hensby (AUS) 73-73, A. McLardy (RSA) 73-73, T. Jaidee (THA) 71-75, A. Stolz (AUS) 70-76
147 - D. Fichardt (RSA) 76-71, C. Howell (USA) 74-73, K.J. Choi (KOR) 71-76, S.K. Ho (KOR) 71-76
148 - T. Herron (USA) 73-75, S. Leaney (AUS) 73-75
149 - A. Atwal (IND) 71-78, C. Campbell (USA) 70-79
150 - F. Jacobson (SWE) 74-76
151 - Y.E. Yang (KOR) 75-76, M. Campbell (NZL) 74-77
152 - L.W. Zhang (CHN) 75-77
153 - S. Verplank (USA) 71-82
155 - S. Katayama (JPN) 79-76.
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