Golf: Harrington aims to slay ghost of card
Padraig Harrington returns to the scene of the crime this week. The place where one of his best-ever performances suddenly turned into one of his worst-ever moments.
The record books show that last year’s Benson and Hedges International Open at the Belfry was won by Jose Maria Olazabal by three shots from Phillip Price.
They also show that down in joint 153rd and last place, alongside Rodger Davis (retired), Phil Golding and Gary Evans (both disqualified), was Harrington, also disqualified on day one.
Expunged from the bare statistics are the biggest stories of that week - the Irishman’s course record 64 in the third round and his ejection from the £1m tournament when he was five strokes clear with 18 holes to play.
Odds-on favourite for the £166,659 first prize, Harrington was on the practice range when he was approached by tournament director Andy McFee and told there was a problem.
His scorecard from the first round had the signatures of playing partners Michael Campbell and Jamie Spence on it, but not his own - and was therefore unacceptable.
Confusion in the scorers’ hut had led to Campbell signing the wrong card and Harrington handing it in without spotting the error.
It came to light only three days later when the hotel at the course, wishing to display the Dubliner’s cards in the event of him winning, saw the mistake.
A shocked Harrington, one of the most meticulous players in the game, accepted the blame and even managed to smile during television and press interviews.
But, inevitably, the incident was not easy to forget.
‘‘I lost about half a stone over the next couple of weeks thinking about what happened,’’ he recalls. ‘‘It was a pretty stressful time and it took me a good while to get over it.
‘‘It seemed that whenever I spoke to anyone about anything the conversation would always come round to that incident.
‘‘I suppose it will be brought up again now, but once I get through this week hopefully it can be laid to rest.’’
What Harrington will be trying to remember is how well he played on the first three days, culminating in a third round which, to his great regret, was not allowed to stand as a record because technically he should have already been disqualified by then.
Already sure of a second Ryder Cup cap back at the Belfry in September, the 29-year-old is looking to underline his liking for the course and this time to stay out of trouble off it as well.
