February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Harrington played streaky golf at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., beginning his first round with three bogeys over the first six holes. Then beginning at 9, he clipped four strokes off par over the next six frames. The three finishing holes saw him go bogey-birdie-bogey. Friday saw him lead off with bogeys on the first three holes and he was four over for his round as he left the seventh green.
As Harrington teed off on Sunday, he wasn’t going to catch the leaders. He was one under for the day after seven holes, but then the bottom fell out. Bogeys on each of 8, 9, 12 and 13 were just the prelude for the quadruple-bogey he suffered on the par-4 14th hole, which he had birdied on two of the previous days. A closing bogey at 18 sealed his 80, the highest round of the day.
Harrington earned $11,280 as Vijay Singh bested Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia in a playoff for the championship.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Gary Murphy and Michael Hoey didn’t expect to meet on the leaderboard as they teed off on Sunday in the Italian Open at Castello di Tolcinasco Golf Club in Milan. After all, Murphy stood in fifth place and Hoey was 56th. But to Murphy’s chagrin, they finished as part of the pack in 25th place at 5-under-par 283, 13 strokes off the winning Steve Webster.
Things were looking up for Murphy as he eagled the first hole on Sunday, the second consecutive day on which he’d recorded a 3 to start his round two under par. A double-bogey 6 on the sixth hole and a triple-bogey 6 at the eighth signaled the beginning of the end. Bogeys at 9, 10 and 16 only dropped him farther down the board. His final-round 78 paled alongside the 67, 72 and 66 he had shot earlier in the tournament.
Hoey closed out the event with a round that featured five birdies and a single bogey. His cards read 72, 71, 72 and 68.
Taking the weekend off, due to an inability to make the 143 needed to avoid the cut were Graeme McDowell, 144 (70-74), Damien McGrane, 144 (74-70), Philip Walton, 149 (78-71), and Stephen Browne, 152 (77-75).
CHALLENGE TOUR
David Higgins recorded his seventh top-10 finish of the season, this time in the FirstPlus Wales Challenge at the Vale Hotel & Spa in Wales. Years of battling the winds at Waterville in Co. Kerry enabled Higgins to secure part of seventh place at 5-over-par 297 (77-73-74-73). Even par over 72 holes was good enough for the playoff, which saw Olivier David outlast Iain Pyman.
Colm Moriarty shared 31st place at 302 (72-80-74-76). Tim Rice, who also opened with 72 and a share of third place, came apart on Friday. Unable to cope with the swirls, he shot 84 and missed the cut by four strokes. He was joined on the sidelines by Noel Fox, 154 (73-81), Daniel Sugrue, 165 (78-87) and Justin Kehoe, 165 (88-77).