Late eagles earn Harrington share of lead

TWO late eagles saw Pádraig Harrington claim a share of the lead at the Iskander Johor Open on eight under par following the first round at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Malaysia.

Having collected five birdies and one bogey over the preceding 15 holes, Harrington eagled the 16th and 18th to join Australian Marcus Both and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the top of the leaderboard in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

“It was nice to finish eagle, par, eagle. That’s a rare thing to do. It certainly bumped up my score,” said the Irishman.

“It’s a long way to go yet. You can always lose it on a Thursday but in regards to winning it, there’s a lot of work to be done.

“It was a tough day with the wind. It was an awkward day and it’s nice to return a score like that. I got the breaks and holed a few putts.

“At the end of the day, if you’re going to shoot a 64, you’ve got to hole a few putts. I certainly holed two nice ones on 16 and 18 and holed three 15 footers as well.”