COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – After leaving one tip in the Ruff and losing some credibility with the Greens, Padraig Harrington was looking for something to give him hope towards his appearance that will be a fierce final day at Topsator Bee Broadmoor.
A tip-in from 20 yards for the 18th birdie did the trick. He gave Harrington a share of the final group spot, Lead, and left him one more apart after winning the US Senior Open for the first time in four years.
Harrington’s chip-in Saturday pulled him into a tie with Stewart Sink and Mark Hensby, just as he was heading that day. Playing with the same threesome, all three shot a 2-under 68 and finished at an 8-under 202.
“Driving a hole on the 18th was special. I was seeing what everyone was watching, what they were expecting,” Harrington said. “It was exciting and very good that we didn’t have to hit another shot.”
The shot behind him was Thomas Bjorn. That 66 coincided with the best round of the day, setting what looked like a four-man fight for the title.
Steve Flesch (67) took another three shots at 4 under, while Steven Alker’s 66 was tied to Miguel Angel Jiménez (68) and Paul Stankowski (67).
Another one shot was Billy Andrede (70). It was a fitting picture, given all the pain and confusion that caused the highly leaning Broadmoor, especially when set for major championship conditions.
“That’s what you’re doing with the last four or five holes that you’re pretty tough and ask some big questions,” Bjorn said. “I’m sure tomorrow’s pin position has more questions for us, so we’ll win the golf tournament.”
The worst taste of Hensby has now reached 18. The gallery was still bustling from Hall Out in Harrington on Sunday’s 54th birthday, leaving a six-foot birdie for a solo lead short. I curled violently to the right without reaching the hole.
Still, Hensby made four more birdies (with eagle) to finish the third day at 19 in the tournament. By comparison, the sink has 13. Hensby can comfort him more than anyone else, finding a way to get hit from long range on the greens that Justin Leonard said “it’s the same as trying to putt on Augusta National.”
“You can have five footers that can break two feet,” Hensby said. “Yeah, people go, when you missed the 4 footer when you want to aim for the outer cup on the far left. But it was fun.”
PAR-3 None shows a putt above the Cink on the 16th. Right off the greenery, his birdie attempts went by a hole, about 30 feet from the flag, as the ever-present slopes of Cheyenne Mountain were sacrificed.
Still, he hadn’t complained after two bogey rounds of four Baidees in a day filled with sun, clouds, wind, rain and even lightning bolts pulled away from the course for 30 minutes.
Altitude of 6,000 feet.
“I hit some shots that I didn’t know what to expect when the ball was in the air,” Sink said. “I had a 228-yard shot on par 3 on the 12th hole, and there was a place where I hit an 8-iron. How do I find something like that?”
Cink and Hensby appeared to be tied down for the lead they shared with Harrington before the Irish began to lose momentum on the back nine.
The three-time major champion needed two chips from the par-3 12th day deep liver and made a double bogey to get out of the lead. Another bogey baby a 15-foot putt and turned 15 when he rounded up well before the hole.
“I certainly lost a bit of confidence in Green,” Harrington said.
He had no choice but to hack the lake to the rough left of the fairway at 18 and shorten it into greenery.
However, he turned the possible bogey into an unlikely birdie, ensuring he would play in the same threesome (due to the weather) as Saturday. Also marks his fourth day, heading straight to Cink.
“I wanted to be the last group. Yes, and the only way I could be in the last group was to make that birdie,” Harrington said. “But just because you want something doesn’t mean you can do it. If it was just as easy as that, we would all be great.”