Harrington rolls back the years at Alfred Dunhill Links
Pádraig Harrington is playing in his 25th consecutive Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the only professional to play in all editions of the event. Picture: Steve Welsh/PA
Pádraig Harrington rolled back the years in his second round at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship yesterday.
Harrington, making his 25th appearance in the tournament's 25th staging, carded a five-under-par round of 67 at Kingsbarns, one of three courses used at the event.
Harrington carded seven birdies with just two bogeys to sit at six under overall, five shots behind the leader Casey Jarvis.
Matthew Jordan shot a seven-under 65 to move into contention at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship despite having to put up with Piers Morgan’s verbal jousting.
The Royal Liverpool member is looking for his first DP World Tour win in his 183rd tournament and he shrugged off the good-natured criticism from the television presenter – his amateur playing partner for the team part of the event – to card six birdies and an eagle at Carnoustie.
His one mishap was a bogey at the ninth, his final hole, but he got to 10 under and into a four-way tie for second place.
“Yeah, with Piers, the amount of sledging that goes on towards me is incredible,” said Jordan.
“We are supposed to be a team but honestly it’s all about him and that’s how he makes it.
“I think Peter Jones (star of Dragons Den) missed a two-foot putt on 15 and he (Morgan) comes up to me – because I hit it to two foot as well – and he says ‘Don’t do a Jonesy’.
“So that kind of puts the heebie-jeebies in you over that small putt. He just cuts at me like that and every time I seem to do something good, it’s him taking the limelight.”
South African Casey Jarvis leads by one on 11 under after a 67 at Kingsbarns but the round of the delay belonged to Spaniard Rocco Repetto Taylor who had an eight-under 64 at Kingsbarns, the second of three courses being used for the first three rounds with St Andrews also hosting on the final day.
The 23-year-old had four birdies and an eagle in his final nine holes to sit 10 under alongside Jordan and South African MJ Daffue.
Defending champion Bob MacIntyre is at eight under after a 65 at Kingsbarns, where Brooks Koepka shot a 67 to sit level with the Scot.
Tommy Fleetwood is at six under after a four-under 68 at Kingsbarns, as is Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick with a 70 at the same course.
In their first DP World Tour appearances in nearly four years, Lee Westwood got to four under after a 69 at Kingsbarns but fellow LIV golfer Ian Poulter went out in 41 at Carnoustie on his way to 76 which left him four over.
Meanwhile, Liam Nolan will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge after carding a seven under par third round of 63 at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club.
The Irishman, who started moving day in a share of the lead with Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and Belgian Matthis Besard, fired seven birdies during his bogey-free effort to reach 16 under par for the week.
Nolan is in the midst of his second full HotelPlanner Tour season and is excited to embrace the final round nerves as he contends for his maiden professional title.
“I’m sure there will be some nerves that I haven’t felt the first three days but nerves are great,” he told europeantour.com.
“I was pretty nervous when I played the Irish Open but it’s such a cool and fun experience to be nervous and for shots to matter a little bit more.
“It will be the same gameplan and to stick to what I’ve been doing, and we will see where we sit at the end of the tomorrow.”
After parring his opening three holes, Nolan picked up his first gain at the drivable par four fourth before adding back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven.
Three under par as he made the turn, the 26-year-old carded his fourth birdie of the day on the tenth to reach 13 under. Gains on 12 and 14 would follow with a final birdie on the difficult 16th helping the man from Galway pull clear at the top.
Pars on 17 and 18 capped a fine day’s work, with Nolan particularly pleased with his back nine performance in Al Ain.
“I played pretty well on the back nine which was fun because Tapio was also making birdies, so we were bouncing off each other a little bit,” he added.
“I hit lots of nice solid shots into 15 feet and the putter was working well. There’s some pins I didn’t really want to take on due to the steep run-offs but the putter was the main reason for the birdies.
“I’m just going to keep riding this nice wave of good swing thoughts and the ball going straight.”
Nolan currently sits in 43rd position on the Road to Mallorca, just inside the provisional cut-off for the season-ending Grand Final at the end of October. A victory in the UAE, however, would see the Irishman jump up to 13th position, inside the promotion places and on course to earn DP World Tour playing rights for the 2027 season.
Despite the stakes, the 26-year-old is remaining solely focussed on continuing his impressive form in the Middle East.
“I’m not looking at the Rankings at all,” the Irishman said. “I’ve found out in amateur golf when you look too far ahead you end up disappointed.
“I want to stay patient, control what I can control and enjoy myself as much as I can and then we’ll look at the Rankings when the season’s done.”
Pulkkanen, who is chasing his second HotelPlanner Tour win of the season, holds solo second following a third round 65, one shot clear of Italian Matteo Cristoni and Switzerland’s Benjamin Rusch.
On the Clutch Tour, The Island's Paul McBride won the Clutch Pro Tour Championship at Slaley Hall. McBride carded a final round 68 to finish on 10-under, two ahead of Ben Hutchinson.
The win moved McBride into second place on the Order of Merit and gains his a HotelPlanner Tour card for 2027.
There was disappointment, however, for John Murphy and Alex Maguire. Murphy slipped from 9th to 11th in the rankings, while Maguire slipped outside the top seven in the rankings and failed to secure the seven HotelPlanner Tour starts guaranteed for those finishing from fourth to seventh.
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