ENDICOTT (N.Y.) — Stunningly impressive may or may be inadequate to describe what Padraig harrington did Sunday afternoon on the En-Joie Golf Course. But we’ll take it.
The reigning Dick’s Sporting Goods Open winner, who was a relative afterthought even a few holes into his back 9, went on a seemingly inexplicable streak to shoot 63 at 9-under for an 18-under total and clinch the win by merely one stroke over Joe Durant.
Harrington, the first back-to back champion of this PGA Tour Champions tournament, clubbed En Joie’s rear side to a sweet tune of 7 under 28 – five birds, one eagle. Harrington’s par at the 18 th gave him a slice of $315,000 for the second summer in a row in Endicott. This was his first victory this season after a four-victory rookie campaign in 2022.
Joe Durant was the runner-up. He went 64-69 66, which is a shot ahead of Ernie Els. His closing bogey gave him a 16-under score and a total of 68.
The final threesome, Brett Quigley (T-5) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (Eighth) finished in T-5 and 8th place respectively.
Harrington was now 12-under after his first back-nine par at the 12 th. He was five behind leader Joe Durant. It’s a nice little story – “Defending Champion makes fine bid” or whatever, but it isn’t true.
The par-4 13 th is where the meat of the course begins, especially under the Sunday competition. There are no breathers, except for the 16 and th.
Then…
Harrington birdied the 13 the th hole, the 14 the th, and the 15 the th to get some attention. On that roll, why don’t you make 2 at the par-4 16 the th and then chase it with a 2 at the par-3 18 the th in order to get 9-under and grab the lead for the day?
He said, “You know I played really well for the first twelve holes.” “Three three-putts. You can’t make a three-putt if you’re in a chasing position. On 11, I made a great putt and then got into trouble. It was amazing. A bad hole kicked me into thinking, “Oh, that’s OK.” I got out of the bunker from 31 yards and holed a eight-footer. It went from feeling that everything was against you to oh, this is not bad.
“I was not thinking of winning, but rather just making birdies.”
“When I first started making them, yes, I thought about it after I got three or four. It was obviously a bonus to make an eagle. It was great, I pushed up the tee to 16 which made it perfect 3 wood, whereas you have to choose between driver and 3 wood every day. When I made all those bad choices on the first day, I chose 3 wood. Today was the perfect 3 wood. It was a nice surprise.
It’s incredible when you are holing your putts. I could have turned my back, closed my eyes and holed the 17-foot putt. You can’t miss when they are going in. “When they weren’t going in as they were in the front nine I couldn’t imagine a way to get them in.”
Els was still lurking as Els made the par at 18. Els made bogey on the final hole, and the 51-year old Irishman celebrated once more in Endicott.
Harrington stated, “There’s little doubt that a number of players approached me this week to say, “Well played last week, (T27 in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles) and it does you no damage, does you harm.” As I have said, the Champions Tour is interesting. We all want to see the person who returns to the regular Tour succeed. We all hope that whoever returns to the regular Tour plays well, just to show us how good we are out here.
It’s amazing how much pressure there is on you. You have to shoot 18-under in three days. It’s a lot to do. It doesn’t matter. You’ve just got to make sure you get 18 under par. You know these guys are good players.”
He had a 2 under score through 11, while those in front were making some serious money. What happened next?
He said, “You have to be patient.” “I had a par on 11 which turned the tide. After I started making pars, I was on a roll. I made — I believe after I made three consecutive pars, I said to myself, “How many am I now behind?” I began to look at the leaderboard. Normally I would not look at the leaderboard but I was consciously looking for what I needed to do.
I knew that I had to press on. “It just seemed like everything went well for the last seven” holes.
