Harrington rues missed opportunity in Boston
However, it was another bitter-sweet occasion for the 38-year-old Irishman, who must wonder when he will win again, having finished second in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the Barclays Championship, 10th in the US PGA after a quintuple bogey eight in the last round and now fourth, all in the past four weeks.
Two bad errors at the 10th and 12th cost him dearly in Boston where he entered the back nine with a one-shot advantage over the field having completed the outward journey in an impeccable four under 32.
He did well to escape with a bogey at the 10th but a double bogey two holes later pushed him back into the pack before two closing birdies helped partially redeem the situation.
“It was a really good double bogey,” he maintained. “I was very unlucky with the tee shot. I pulled it down the left, it caught the limb of a tree and went unplayable. These things happen. You get some good breaks, you get some bad breaks.”
After learning the ball was unplayable, Harrington returned to the tee, hit a perfect drive and knocked the next to within 15 feet of the flag for a decent chance of another bogey. However, he missed and after four pars, salvaged another hooked drive at the 17th with a superb nine-iron recovery to four feet from where he holed for another birdie.
He also played the 18th impeccably, following a huge drive with a superb five iron to within 12 feet of the stick to leave himself with an eagle putt which, at the time, would have qualified for a play-off.
“Yeah, I hit two beauties down the last to give myself a great chance of a possible play-off,” he commented. “I thought I was going to hole that putt. I was trying to hit it just outside the right lip. I was trying to hit it two inches right. I probably hit it four inches right. I thought it had a good chance at the pace it was going of getting in on that right lip, but there was no break there.
“That’s what happens sometimes. I’ve holed many a good putt on the 18th green. The main thing is I had a chance. I hit a pretty decent putt. If it didn’t happen today, it’s going to happen another day. I seem to be a little bit better when I’m chasing and I was happy that I hit a few good shots coming down the stretch.”
Yet Harrington was also forced to accept that it was another tournament that he had every chance to close out and had failed to do so.
“I’m disappointed because it was in my control,” he admitted. “I was leading the tournament and going into the back nine, it was mine to lose and I lost it. It was tough out there and it’s always tougher on a firm and fast course where you get a little bit protective.
“I’ll feel this one a lot more than some of the others because it was mine for the winning.
“Such is life. I made some mistakes around the turn. I probably was a little bit aggressive off the tee on 10 and then maybe didn’t hit a good tee shot on 12 and was very unlucky. Obviously it was nice to make a few birdies coming home and have a putt on the last that meant something.”
Harrington won’t allow near misses or acute disappointments get him down and by the time he tees it up in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, Chicago, tomorrow he will have forgotten about the disappointment of Boston. And he will carry many happy memories of his week in a city that he reckons is, if anything, more Irish than anything to be found back home. “There are five million Irish people in Ireland and 40 million in the States and it seems like a huge amount are in Boston,” he laughed. “The support out there was fantastic and it did feel like I was at home. I played with a few US guys the last couple of days and we were joking about who was actually the home guy.
“It was great support when you need a boost and really helped. You’re beaming all day at the love that was coming your way from the gallery.”
And more than a little ruefully, he concluded: “They would have liked to see me deliver. Unfortunately, I didn’t”.
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