This is the early front-runner for our golfing highlight of the year
Padraig Harrington ended a six-year wait for a PGA Tour victory with a stunning triumph at the Honda Classic in Florida.
After a roller-coaster final round, the Dubliner birdied the final hole to force a play-off with American rookie Daniel Berger and then held his nerve to claim his first title on US soil since the last of his major title at the 2008 US PGA Championship.
Clutch. The birdie that got Harrington into a playoff at The Honda Classic. #QuickHitshttps://t.co/vBHCGb6khF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 2, 2015
Both men missed birdie putts on the first play-off hole, before Harrington delivered the killer blow with his tee shot on the par-3 17th, where less than an hour earlier he had found the water and collapsed to a double bogey that looked to have cost him the tournament.
But Harrington’s fabled mental strength was back on display and he delivered the his ball within six feet, putting the pressure all on 21-year-old Berger, whose own tee shot found the water to hand victory to Harrington, who came from seven behind to win this event in 2005.
‘There’s no doubt on your way back down it’s a lot different,’ Harrington, who had fallen to 297th in the world, said. ‘But hopefully this isn’t an isolated win. I think I’ve found that mental edge that was lacking the last couple of years. I hope I can be consistently contending, because I know that if can contend, I can win.’
The win is worth almost $1.1million and will likely boost Harrington back into the world’s top 100 and has the added bonus of punching Harrington’s ticket to Augusta next month for his first appearance at the Masters since he missed the cut in 2013.
He has also nailed down his Tour card for the next two and a half years, having relied on exemptions and sponsors’ invites. He celebrated after his win with a guilty pleasure snack:
1st celebration meal. pic.twitter.com/VlpOb1OTBJ
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) March 2, 2015
It had been an incredible morning of drama, the result of a complete washout on Saturday, and when final-round play was suspended as darkness descended on PGA National in Florida last night, Harrington sat three shots off the lead held by playing partners Patrick Reed and Ian Poulter, thanks to three dropped shots in the seven holes played yesterday.
That margin increased to four when Poulter birdied the first hole upon the resumption to get to seven under. The Englishman held a two-shot lead entering the back nine but momentum began to shift on the 11th, where Harrington holed a 13-footer for birdie and Poulter double-bogeyed after finding the water.
Further birdies on 12 and 13 propelled Harrington into a three-way tie for the lead alongside his Reed and Poulter at six under par, where the trio were joined by Berger, who rocketed up the leaderboard with a superb 64 that included a birdie-birdie finish.
There was more drama on 14, as an errant drive proved the undoing of Poulter, who stumbled to a triple bogey that ended his interest in the tournament. Harrington’s purple patch continued, though, and a fourth birdie in a row was matched by co-leader Reed.
The American found the water on 15, however, leading to a double bogey, and when Harrington’s ten-foot birdie putt shaved the hole the Dubliner found himself in the outright lead seven under.
A regulation par on 16 left Harrington knowing pars on the final holes would give him victory, but he found water on the par-3 17th and two dropped shots handed Berger the advantage, only for the Irishman to fight back with a 15-foot birdie on the last to force the play-off.
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