Harrington makes The Onion
Padraig Harrington's 16th hole implosion in the Bridgestone Invitational made the satirical magazine, The Onion.
Brian Keogh
Heavyweight Harrington weighs up his year
Forty-four pounds. In terms of sheer, physical weight the Wannamaker Trophy awarded to the US PGA champion is the heaviest trophy in major championship golf.
Harrington working on his wedge game.“You cannot believe how heavy it is,” Padraig Harrington said in Akron yesterday, where he is using for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational as a warm up for next week’s title defence at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. “It's phenomenal how heavy the trophy is.”
Some may say that the weight of expectation created by Harrington’s third major championship victory at Oakland Hills last year has been a tremendous burden for the Dubliner. It’s been suggested that he has taken refuge on the practice ground this year in a subconscious attempt to relieve the pressure.
Harrington working on his wedge game.“You cannot believe how heavy it is,” Padraig Harrington said in Akron yesterday, where he is using for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational as a warm up for next week’s title defence at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. “It's phenomenal how heavy the trophy is.”Some may say that the weight of expectation created by Harrington’s third major championship victory at Oakland Hills last year has been a tremendous burden for the Dubliner. It’s been suggested that he has taken refuge on the practice ground this year in a subconscious attempt to relieve the pressure.
Harrington storms two clear in Akron
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The real Padraig Harrington is finally back.
Just when it looked as though he was about to slink off to the range to work himself out of a slump that has seen him miss eight cuts from 16 strokeplay starts this season and slip from third to 17th in the world, the Dubliner raced two strokes clear of the field when he opened with a sensational, six-under par 64 in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.
Harrington water torture as Woods wins seventh Bridgestone
Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre. Padraig Harrington caressed an historic victory in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last night only to see the title slip sickeningly from his grasp and into a watery grave at Firestone Country Club in the wake of a slow play controversy.
Two behind with eight to play after seeing his three shot lead evaporate in the face of an incredible Tiger Woods charge on the front nine, the resurgent Dubliner found himself one in front with just three to go.
He birdied the 11th to close to within one, levelled when Woods bogeyed the 13th and then nosed in front when he saved par at the 14th after Woods bogeyed again.
The dream was on but it all ended with a horrendous triple bogey eight on the 667-yard, par-five 16th and a bizarre time ruling that saw him card a two over par 72 to a five under par 65 for Woods.
The game's top player twisted the knife when he birdied the last for a four stroke win on 12 under par from Harrington and Robert Allenby, securing his 70th PGA Tour win and his 16th WGC victory from 30 starts.
Tiger shows his respect for Harrington
Tiger Woods showed Padraig Harrington massive respect when he blamed rules officials for the Dubliner’s 16th hole horror show that turned their electric Bridgestone Invitational showdown into a damp squib.
Ireland’s triple major winner had the title snatched from his grasp at the 667 yard par-five they call “The Monster” when they were put on the clock and he rushed his way to a triple bogey eight, one-hopping a flop shot into the water to go from one ahead to three behind.
As they shook hands on the 18th, Harrington played down the clock cock-up, looked Tiger in the eye and vowed: "We'll do battle many times again.”
That opportunity will come this week when they meet in the first two rounds of the US PGA at Hazeltine. And Woods will be keen to win it fair and square.
Harrington "doesn't want to know"
Padraig Harrington uses the Flightscope under the watchful eye of his caddie and a representative of Wilson Golf at Firestone. Picture by Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ieIf a change is as good as a rest then Padraig Harrington can expect to mount a challenge for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club exactly two years after he finished second to Tiger Woods in a thrilling finish.
That said, the Dubliner has no intention of heeding the grave warnings pronounced by his currently estranged coach Bob Torrance following their decision to “take a break” in their 14-year relationship at last week’s Irish Open.
Once Harrington made the split public when asked about it on the driving range in Killarney last week, Torrance explained exactly why the pair have not seen eye to eye for some time.
“He has been going down one road that I think is the wrong one and he is determined to go down that road,” Torrance said. “I said to him, if you go down too far, you won’t come back.”