MONDAY FINISH FOR RAIN-HIT HONDA CLASSIC PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida -- Padraig Harrington is a 36-hole leader on
the US PGA Tour for the first time in nearly five years and he knows
he has a long way to go. A vicious storm Saturday at the Honda Classic made his weekend even longer.
Harrington made six birdies in the 12 holes he played Saturday
morning in the rain-delayed tournament to complete a 4-under 66
and take a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed, with Ian Poulter and
Brendan Steele another shot behind.
The third round ended 51 minutes after it started because of a
storm that packed 50 mph gusts and dumped about 5 inches of rain
on PGA National. The storm was so severe that it created an air
bubble on the 18th green the size of a sea turtle, caused the
sides of bunkers to cave in and toppled an electronic scoreboard
off a platform and down to the bottom of a lake. "That's as bad as I've ever seen it rain," said Jacksonville Beach-based Russell Knox from Inverness after a 68 left him four shots behind.
Only 24 players completed a hole before the storm arrived, causing
the third delay of the week. The plan was to return at 10 a.m.
Sunday to resume the round, and continue with the same pairings to
play as much as possible on Sunday. The tournament now is to end
on Monday. "We've got pretty much a mess," said Slugger White, the tour's vice president of competition.
It helps that the next event is a World Golf Championship about a
90-minute drive down the highway at Doral, and there is no pro-am.
The torrential rains caused an air bubble to to grow on the 18th green. (USATSI) Harrington,
the three-time major champion from Ireland, has fallen to No. 297
in the world and couldn't qualify for Doral even if he were to
win. He won the Indonesian Open on the Asian Tour at the end of last
year, ending a four-year drought dating to another Asian Tour event.
His last US PGA Tour victory was his second straight
major, the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. He said the
benefit of playing Indonesia was a boost to his confidence, on and
off the golf course. At such a small tournament, his name
resonates. "They treat you like a star, you play
like a star," he said. "I'm back to being a three-time major
winner. I went for that reason -- to give my ego a boost. There's
definitely a lot to being a big fish in a small pond."
That was a proper analogy when PGA National turned into a pond,
and Harrington surely played the role of a big fish.
Thanks to nearly four hours of rain delays Friday, he made it
through six holes and returned Saturday with back-to-back birdies
on the 16th and 17th holes, and then another from about 10 feet on
No. 1, posing over just about every shot.
After a bogey set up by a wild tee shot on the par-5 third hole -- he
had to pitch down the second fairway because of the trees --
Harrington ran off three straight birdies before a few loose tee
shots cost him. The rough had become so thick and wet that he
couldn't reach the green on his final two holes, making bogeys on
both. He finished at 7-under 133.
"It's nice to be in contention," Harrington said. "I'm very
positive about my game coming in here this week. I don't know
what's going to happen the next 36 holes, but I have a good idea
where I'm going. I'm pretty confident." Reed finished his 67 on Friday.
Poulter matched the low round of the week at PGA National with a
64 and was two shots back. He holed out for eagle with a sand
wedge on the fourth hole and dropped only one shot on the back
nine. "If I play half as good as I've obviously
played today, then I'm going to have a chance come Sunday,"
Poulter said. Steele's 69 score doesn't reflect his
up-and-down day. He didn't make a par until the 10th hole, playing
the front nine with six birdies and three bogeys. And then he
made nothing but pars on the back nine except for a double bogey
on the 16th. Luke Donald finished his 67 on Friday and was another shot back at 4-under 136.
The cut was at 4-over 144 and didn't include Rory McIlroy. His
first tournament in America in five months lasted only two days
for the world's No. 1 player. McIlroy bogeyed three of his final
four holes on Friday for a 74 and missed the cut by three shots.
Phil Mickelson, who had missed two straight cuts on
the West Coast swing, finished up at 67 on Saturday and was five
shots behind. The focus on Sunday starts with Harrington.
"Through 27 holes, I was the most confident guy in the world, and
less so at the moment," he said after his bogey-bogey finish. "I
know it's going to be a long weekend, and a tough weekend. I have
two options. I can play well on the weekend or I can dig deep and
hang in there."
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