IRISH CHALLENGE:SO CLOSE, and yet so far. Pádraig Harrington – who'd signed for a final round 64 for 268, 16-under, which would give him his 35th second-place finish of a career highlighted by three Major triumphs to date – stayed in the recorder's tent watching the action unfold on a television screen, away from the dictaphones and autograph seekers, until he knew Ross Fisher had the Irish Open title in the bag.
As soon as Fisher played an iron off the tee to the safety of the 18th fairway, Harrington – now grinning, having disposed of that scary-eyed look which had accompanied him over the back nine as he went in a determined quest for the crown – emerged in the knowledge that fate’s calling card had gone the Englishman’s way instead of his.
“I can’t be disappointed, Ross deserves to win. He played great golf,” said Harrington, adding: “But I’m sure before going to sleep tonight I’ll be thinking I could have holed a few more putts or done one or two more things, but going into the next two weeks (for the Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA) I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing all year, keep working on it and just try a little bit to let it happen. At times, I’m trying too hard and not relaxing enough. When you let it happen, you tend to play better golf.”
Harrington – who moved up both the world points list and the European points list but still remains outside of an automatic Ryder Cup place – made a strong bid to claim a second Irish Open title to add to his 2007 win at Adare, producing a bogey-free round which included five birdies and an eagle as he contended down the stretch.
And, in typical Harrington fashion, his endeavours included some notable par saves. On the sixth, he pulled off an exquisite flop shot to save par and, on the 12th, he made a near-miracle par after firstly carving his drive some 25 yards left of the fairway. From there, he cut an iron approach around the trees only for it to find a plugged lie on the upslope of a bunker. By coincidence, Harrington had used that very shot as part of his routine at a FTI corporate day at the Buckinghamshire just last week and pulled off a fantastic bunker shot to six feet and holed the putt.
No matter what he did, however, Harrington couldn’t quite catch Fisher. Coming on the back of his missed cut at the British Open at St Andrews last month, it was a fine response coming into a busy and important stretch of the season.
“I’ve played several tournaments this year where coming down the stretch I’ve felt nervous, and that’s exactly where you want to be,” he said.
Michael Hoey, meanwhile, shot a closing 67 for 273, 11-under, which gave him a seventh place finish (€90,000) and effectively secured his tour card. Now, the Belfastman – who has two weeks break before resuming play at the Czech Open – can re-jig his season’s goals. “I want to make it to get into the top-60 (on the moneylist) and get to the Dubai World Championship,” he said
