Golfer Padraig Harrington has moved into the lead at the Irish Open in Lahinch, county Clare, after scoring seven birdies through his first 13 holes.
Harrington moved ahead of five players tied in second at -5 under par with the 2007 winner looking to become the first Irish man since Shane Lowry in 2009 to win the tournament.
Harrington caught fire after the seventh hole as he birdied the eighth, ninth, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth while bogeying the eleventh.
Padraig Harrington rebounds from a wayward tee-shot to claim an impressive birdie on the second hole. #rtegolf pic.twitter.com/g6zNuoqmRL
— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) July 4, 2019
Padraig Harrington is motoring along nicely on -2 and finds his range well off the tee on the 7th. https://t.co/tGYYPdtbmn #rtegolf pic.twitter.com/9c3orXNtCH
— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) July 4, 2019
Boom! Padraig Harrington putts through four different cuts of grass to find the hole on the eighth and leaves himself within two shots of the lead #rtegolf https://t.co/tGYYPdtbmn pic.twitter.com/s1SUbSNGqm
— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) July 4, 2019
Padraig Harrington hits his third birdie in a row to join the clubhouse leaders on -5 and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down. https://t.co/tGYYPdtbmn #rtegolf pic.twitter.com/abwYqQWLXE
— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) July 4, 2019
Outright leader! Two birdies in a row send Padraig Harrington to the front of the pack, up ya boyo! https://t.co/tGYYPdtbmn pic.twitter.com/KmYhA0vmqN
— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) July 4, 2019
Harrington was sidelined until late February with a wrist injury and he said that the issue may persist for months when he confirmed that he would be playing in The Irish Open in March.
“I wouldn’t say the wrist is 100%, it might not be 100% for about nine months, or at least another six or seven months. I’m working away at it,” he told RTE.
“Traditionally the Malaysian Open was my first event of the season, if you go back 20 years, so it’s my first event this year and I’m looking forward to that good karma, let’s say.
“It’s interesting to come out here. I hit shots on the range here, I hit shots last week and the wrist is holding up, there’s no doubt about it.
“There’s a certain amount of mobility issues and I need to work on the strength of it. Maybe hit a few less balls in the short term, but in general it’s right on track. If anything it’s probably ahead of expectations.”
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