Masters boost for Harrington

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON headed for Augusta last night in his newly acquired private plane much encouraged by a top ten finish in the Shell Houston Open.

Harrington, 40 in August, added a 70 to earlier rounds of 68, 69 and 70 for an 11 under par total of 279 that put him into a share of 8th place, nine shots behind the winner, Phil Mickelson, who closed with a seven under par 65 for a 20 under par total of 268.

Mickeson finished three shots clear of fellow Americans Scott Verplank and Chris Kirk.

It was comfortably Harrington's best performance of the year so far and just the kind of result he badly wanted in the build-up to the Masters starting on Thursday next.

A poor finish in Saturday’s third round left Harrington with too much to do to get into contention for the actual title in Houston but he still performed very solidly yesterday although annoyed at his inability to capitalise on a very promising start.

A birdie at the 2nd was offset by a bogey at the 3rd but he picked up further gains at the long 4th, the 5th and the par three 7th to play himself into a promising position.

However, that was the end of the birdies until the par five 15th after which he stood eleven under for the tournament facing into the holes that cost him a hat-trick of bogeys on Saturday.

To his credit, Harrington played all three in solid, two putt pars for the kind of finish that he believes will stand to him in good stead as hecontests the Masters for the twelfth time this week.

Meanwhile, reigning Masters champion Mickelson produced a display of remarkable shot making in taking control of the tournament. Even though he three putted the 15th after cracking two wonderful shots into the heart of the green, he duly rolled in a six footer for a two at the next having almost holed his tee shot.

And with his nearest rival, 46 year-old Scott Verplank, taking a bogey at the same hole after putting his tee shot in sand, “Lefty” found himself a commanding three shots in front with two to play

Lee Westwood, the Englishman ranked number two in the world and the runner-up to Mickelson at the Masters last year, badly needs a big week at Augusta to maintain his elevated position. He got off to a great start to his final round in Houston yesterday, slipped a little halfway through before finishing solidly for a 68 and a six under par total of six under par.

It’s been a quiet season so far for Westwood who, however, claimed last night that a strong final round in Houston gave him additional confidence as he bids for an overdue first major championship.

Nevertheless, a share of 30th will convince the sceptics that his game is currently good enough to cope with the demands of the year’s first major championship.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen has a huge job on his hands convincing Americans that he was a worthy winner of last year’s British Open Championship at St Andrews and nothing less than getting into serious contention over the back nine on Sunday next will change that impression.

And he, too, felt he was on the right road last night after another closing 68 moved him to nine under in Houston and into a share of 16th place.