Harrington’s 49-yard Open chip deserves shot of the year title

MORE often than not, one is inclined to take no more than a passing interest in sporting accolades celebrating issues like man of the match, goal of the month, team of the year and the like.

The European Tour’s “shot of the year” fits into this category, although in 2007 it will arouse keener than usual interest, especially with two Irishmen in contention.

Graeme McDowell’s memorable albatross at Valderrama’s great 17th hole on the final day of the Volvo Masters ensured he would be the November recipient and would inevitably be one of the favourites when the annual award is voted on next week.

Lying three strokes off the lead with only two holes remaining, McDowell took on the green at the demanding par five and produced a shot he later described as “one of those magic moments”. Faced with 186 yards to a pin guarded by water, the Ulsterman hit a seven iron which took the perfect bounce before rolling in for that rarest of golfing birds.

“It was unbelievable, I have never felt anything like it and it is a memory that will stay with me for a long time,” he said. “To do that on the final day at Valderrama, in the sunshine and in front of a huge crowd, was something truly special.”

The albatross two catapulted McDowell into a share of the lead before a double bogey on the final hole saw him finish joint fourth.

Other winners this year were Retief Goosen of South Africa (January), Mikko Ilonen of Finland (February and August), South Africans Anton Haig (March) and Charl Schwartzel (April), Justin Rose of England (May), Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (June), Padraig Harrington (July), Australia’s Brett Rumford (September) and England’s Steve Webster (October).

The winning shots from each month are entered towards The European Tour Shot of the Year to be announced next week.

McDowell’s albatross will be hard to beat although the double bogey at the last robbed the achievement of some of its sheen. It was my privilege to be actually standing by the 17th green that afternoon when McDowell’s ball disappeared into the cup and I cheered and celebrated as much as anyone. It will be a lasting memory.

And yet I firmly believe a little chip that travelled 137 yards less than McDowell’s seven iron at Valderrama should get the vote because of the grinding pressure under which it was played and its massive degree of importance. That was Padraig Harrington’s fifth shot at the 72nd hole in the Open Championship at Carnoustie in July which salvaged what proved to be a priceless double bogey six.

The golfing world remembers how the Irishman stood on the tee of that most treacherous of golf holes needing a par four to win. More easily said than done, all the more so when Harrington put his drive in the Barry Burn. He also dunked his third in the same infamous hazard so his mind should have been in a frazzle as he stood over the 5th knowing if he didn’t get up and down, the chance of a first major title was, well, dead in the water.

The lie was tight, the damn burn still had to be crossed, the nerves were jangling like never before. Was this mission impossible? But it was then that Padraig’s faithful caddie Ronan Flood informed him that he was exactly 49 yards from the hole. A bell suddenly rang in the back of the Harrington mind… this was the same length as the chip he practised day in, day out in the garden of his home back in Rathmichael, Co Dublin.

Looking back on the circumstances the other day, this is how he described the task facing him: “I reckoned I had to throw it in about 35 yards and skip it up the green. It takes a good hit to chip the ball 35 yards in the air with your feet together. I took a big swing with the lobber and still hit it. Under 35 yards is very much a standard chip, anything over 50 and you’re getting into a wedge shot, it’s a half lob shot or something like that. In my garden, there’s a really tightly cut area and I chip to a green beside me but there’s also a flag designed for hitting wedge shots into that’s 35 yards away so every six or seven balls, I turn around and hit one at that flag. It surprised me at first how difficult it was to get the ball to that flag.”

Somehow, Harrington managed to do just that. In fact, he actually knocked it a yard or so past the flag before bravely holing the one back. When Spaniard Sergio Garcia then bogeyed the hole it meant a play-off between the pair, the result of which will never be forgotten. But it would have been a very different story altogether were it not for that magnificent 49-yard chip and that’s why it must voted shot of the year.”