Oh dear, what have we done?
HERO or villain? It might have been a strange emotion to be greeting victory in the traditional Masters' Par 3 tune-up event, but that was the mindset of Messrs Harrington and Mulqueen as we pondered our "success".
Initial delight at joining the illustrious list of former winners - Sam Snead (twice), Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf, Johnny Miller, Isao Aoki (twice), Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh and Nick Price to name but a few was replaced by the sinking feeling that we might have done something very silly indeed.
Few golf lovers need reminding that the winner of the Par 3 has never gone on to capture the Masters title itself in the same year since the short course competition began back in 1960.
They say there's a jinx associated with it and a lot players either don't compete at all or else deliberately knock it in the water or whatever to stay well clear of danger! Six year-old Tyrone Clarke was Darren's bagman and they had the hell of a lighthearted day out there. Justin Leonard wasn't taking any chances. He walked the course with his six-month-old daughter Reese Ella in his arms and only a putter in the way of golfing equipment.
Harrington noted all this and stressed how much he looked forward to the day when young Patrick would be by his side. And you might have expected Padraig to back off just a little given that he tied for the Par 3 title a year previously and subsequently missed the cut in the Masters.
He did mention as we walked towards the first tee that perhaps we shouldn't try to win but I scotched the idea, stressing there was a first time for everything and that we should go for it. By now, you might have guessed that your correspondent had displaced Dave McNeely on the Harrington bag and was eager for glory in spite of the special handicap under which his man was now operating.
We duly made our way through the 20,000 plus spectators lining this remarkable piece of golfing territory. Every vantage point on the 1,060 yards par 27 lay-out was lined yards deep and especially where the 8th and 9th holes crisscross Ike's Pond named in memory of President Dwight Eisenhower, who had a cabin on the Augusta National property.
The atmosphere was electric, yet full of fun and good humour. The players and especially the ever obliging Harrington signed autographs and had their photographs taken with young and old alike. Gary Player, as fit as ever, walked by to an especially loud roar.
On the tee, we met up with Phillip Price and his delightful wife Sandra who was acting as his caddy, and Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion.
Like everyone else, they were all set for an hour or so of fun and good humour.
As we moved on, the chants from the crowd varied from "Hey Paddy, knock it in the water and get out of here" or "go for it Paddy, you the man" and that kind of thing. The seed of doubt was still there. "Do you really think we should go for it?", Padraig asked again.
My reply in the affirmative was hardly necessary. No matter what the occasion, Harrington is a natural competitor and quickly clicked into top gear. Birdies followed at each of the next four until disaster (well, actually, two disasters) struck on the 6th, a 140 yarder played across the DeSoto pond to a well trapped green. Padraig chose a soft eight but turned it over very slightly and found the sand trap at the back. He splashed out and missed for par. Disaster one.
Disaster two followed when a certain nameless caddy overlooked the basic function of raking the bunker. The omission was pointed out by hordes of amused spectators but by then the caddy had moved on to the next tee and his "employer" had to perform this menial task himself.
Having endured the barbs of Messrs Price and Lawrie and their respective caddies and the laughter of the crowd, I interrupted my boss before he could recriminate. "If you hadn't put it in there in the first place, you wouldn't have had to the job yourself," I pointed out with a certain degree of firmness and certainty I didn't actually feel.
The logic of this was not lost on the other players and spectators who cheered loudly in support. Anyway, it was all quickly forgotten when Price holed his tee shot. There were four in all this time, Mike Weir (2nd), Price (7th) and Tiger Woods and Jay Haas (both 9th).
We went on to pick up another stroke at the 8th until arriving at the 9th on four under and tied with Tiger Woods who only moments previously had holed his tee shot there. The tradition of the Par 3 competition is that each caddy is allowed the last shot but my man wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't on the green in two but then chipped in so my valuable contribution wasn't required.
So now we waited to see if anybody would do better than four under. At 5.30 pm we were informed that Tiger had left the grounds because of another commitment and that the play-off opposition instead was coming from Eduardo Romero.
Did Tiger bottle it? Was he scared of this powerful Irish team of player and caddy? Or was he afraid of being ensnared by the Par 3 jinx? We will never know.
The first was halved in pars, the second in birdies before another glorious gap wedge at the 3rd set up a tap-in two for Padraig. It was his second play-off win over the genial Argentine, the first coming in the Dunhill Links tournament at St Andrews in 2002.
He was duly presented with a large piece of crystal to mark the occasion and needless to say, lavished praise on his bagman. To all those who slagged him off for winning the Par 3, he dismissed them with a shrug. "There's a first time for everything," he said with that ever present smile. "I'm Irish and I have enough luck to deal with any jinx. Somebody has to do it for the first time, so hopefully it will be me this year."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
