Harrington sunk by one disastrous hole once again

The Irishman blew his chance to repeat as PGA champion by carding a snowman on the par-3 eighth.

By RACHEL BLOUNT, Star Tribune

Last update: August 17, 2009 - 1:34 AM

This time, there was no official looking at his watch, no pressure to hurry things along. Padraig Harrington had plenty of time to ponder his strategy on the eighth hole at Hazeltine National, when he remained one shot behind leader Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.

Once again, though, a single hole ruined a perfectly nice Sunday afternoon. For the second week in a row, Harrington stood toe-to-toe with Woods on the final day of a tournament, only to fall apart in record time. The defending PGA champion got off to a bad start on the par-3 No. 8 when his tee shot splashed into the water short of the green, sparking a comedy of errors for a quintuple bogey that shoved him from a tie for second place into a tie for 10th.

In a matter of minutes, Harrington put two balls into the water, nearly beaned playing partner Henrik Stenson and came up short as he tried to chip onto the green. Only a week ago, a triple bogey after a warning for slow play spoiled his final round. Still, the Irishman handled Sunday's repeat calmly, chalking it up to the unpredictability of the game.

"It was a strange day, all right,'' said Harrington, who shot a 78 in the final round to finish the tournament at even par. "Obviously, it was disappointing for me. I felt I hit the shots all day; I hardly got out of position at all.

"These things happen at times. I'm not going to mull over it. In the course of your career, you're going to mess up sometimes.''

In the final round of last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Harrington led Woods by one stroke on the 16th hole at Firestone Country Club's South Course. They were put on the clock by referee John Paramor when they fell behind schedule.

Harrington drove into the trees on the par-5 hole, then ended up in the water as he tried to reach the green. He wound up with an 8 that turned his one-stroke lead into a three-stroke deficit and a second-place finish to Woods.

Sunday, Harrington's demise came at the 176-yard No. 8, where water hugs the right side and curves slightly in front of and behind the green. Just before Harrington struck his tee shot, the wind died down, and he hit it with less force than he needed.

"It just didn't carry over [the water],'' he said. "To be honest, I had plenty of club to get to the middle of the green, and that's what I was thinking. It was probably two or three yards from being safe.''

But one wayward shot can set off a chain of woe. Harrington took a drop, and his third shot sailed toward Stenson, who ducked out of the way. It landed in the left rough. His next shot went over the green and into the water again.

Harrington took another drop and failed to reach the green with his sixth shot. Finally, he chipped onto the green and putted for a quintuple bogey. A round that had begun with seven consecutive pars that kept Harrington at 6 under had disintegrated, dropping him from one shot back to five shots behind co-leaders Woods and Y.E. Yang.

No. 8 had played as the eighth-toughest hole on the course through the first three rounds. Harrington parred the hole in his first-round 68 and second-round 73, and he birdied it in the third round on his way to a 69. He managed only one birdie Sunday, which compounded his troubles.

That single hole cost him an enormous amount of money, but Harrington reacted coolly.

"I know that another time, I'll make that up-and-down and go on to win tournaments,'' he said. "The putts just didn't drop for me, and you do need that to happen in the last round. It happened last year, and I won. I'll just wait around for another year, drop a few putts on the back nine and win again.''

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