Padraig Harrington was sailing along as if he were unstoppable in the Chubb Classic at Tiburon in Naples, Fla. on Sunday. He began the third and final round three strokes off the lead of Fred Couples but climbed the leaderboard with a bullet thanks to six birdies on the front nine. Seemingly, the only thing that could stop him was himself, which is what happened.
Having gone out in 29 to take a one-stroke lead turning onto the back nine, Harrington went into a holding pattern with par at the next four holes. Then, he totally botched the par-4 14th. His tee shot sailed left into a penalty area and he needed three whacks to get his ball onto the fairway. He was lucky to get off the green with double bogey but he ceded the lead and never got it back.
Others had similar horror stories on the back nine but Bernhard Langer was one who didn’t. He notched his 45th career PGA Tour Champions title, tying Hale Irwin as the circuit’s most prolific winner.
Harrington, who finished with 65 on Sunday to go with 67 and 70 in the preceding rounds, joined Steve Stricker in second place, three strokes behind Langer.
Darren Clarke combined rounds of 71, 68 and 72 to earn a share of 25th place with others who were 12 strokes off Langer’s score.
PGA TOUR
Shane Lowry enjoyed a reversal of fortune and not a moment too soon. He took down a share of 14th place in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., after a rough month that saw him blow a lead in the Middle East and miss a cut here in the States.
Lowry couldn’t have gotten off to much of a faster start as he eagled his first hole on Thursday. Consecutive rounds of 69 allowed to him comfortably qualify for the weekend, during which he shot 71 and 68.
Seamus Power matched Lowry to tie for 14th place. He shot 71, 70, 67 and 69. They stood 10 strokes off Jon Rahm’s winning score.
Rory McIlroy posted rounds of 67, 69, 73 and 71, which was good for a slice of 29th place. He played himself out of contention on Saturday, when he had only one birdie to accompany three bogeys.
Lowry and Harrington will fly the colors this week as the Tour moves east to Florida for the Honda Classic. Harrington is a past champion of this event.
