Padraig Harrington discovered a approach.
Regardless of not having his greatest stuff through the ultimate spherical of the Hoag Basic, the Irishman performed effectively sufficient to provide himself an opportunity at victory on the ultimate gap.
And he took full benefit of the chance.
The Dubliner drained an 8-footer for birdie on the 72nd gap, a par-5, which elicited a large fist-pump. The make gave Harrington his seventh profession victory on the PGA Tour Champions.
“That is the wonderful thing about the Champions Tour. It permits us to relive our previous glories,” the Irishman mentioned.
“We get to hit photographs the place we really feel anxious, we really feel nervous, we really feel excited. And it doesn’t change, whenever you’ve obtained a putt to win or a shot to win, you don’t wish to mess up in entrance of individuals.”
However issues seemed dire for Harrington after his double bogey on the sixteenth gap.
Sitting on a one-shot lead, the Irishman snap-hooked his drive, punched out, hit his third into the bunker, and did not rise up and down for bogey.
Like that, Harrington went from having the result in trailing Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thongchai Jaidee by a shot with two holes to play.
“I by no means make it straightforward; don’t do it easy,” Harrington joked afterward. “I feel one in all my greatest traits in golf is when my again’s to the wall, I’m fairly good at taking issues on.”
However he didn’t get down on himself. The Dubliner hit a pleasant strategy into the par-3 seventeenth and gave himself an out of doors likelihood at a birdie from 20 ft. He drained it and walked to the 18th tee with a chunk of the lead at 13-under.
Jimenez, in the meantime, bogeyed the seventeenth, and thus, Harrington and Jaidee had been deadlocked on the ultimate gap.
The Irishman hit his tee shot approach proper on the 18th, maybe compensating for his huge miss left two holes prior. Nevertheless it didn’t have an effect on him an excessive amount of. He managed to get his second shot up into the greenside bunker and obtained up and down from there.
“I knew I may end birdie-eagle if I needed to. I used to be very targeted and simply took it on,” Harrington mentioned.
“I used to be a bit of unfortunate. I hit a pleasant tee shot on 17, and the place I completed up, we thought it was a fraction to the best. After which, clearly, I hit a nasty tee shot on 18, however the second shot labored out very well the place it was. I used to be by no means not getting up and down from there. Once you’re introduced with a chance, you’ve obtained to take it.”
In the meantime, Jaidee additionally missed the golf green, however he made a large number of issues up on the inexperienced. After hitting his second in need of the inexperienced, the 54-year-old Thai hit his third over the inexperienced and struggled to make par from there.
That opened the door for Harrington, who holed the profitable birdie putt for the win.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By means of. You should definitely take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.